It had been four days since Amy had been taken and there were still no leads to getting her back. Everyone had been coming and going from the house using it like a command base of sorts. Fuhrer Mustang had come to Resembool bringing with him the best of his men, including Lieutenant Colonel Havoc. When they weren’t needed at the clinic, Alphonse and May were at the house too.
For the first day Nina wouldn’t come out of her room. She’d felt so useless after letting Amy be taken but Adrienne had finally coaxed her out. After what had happened, she’d told everyone about her abilities, well everyone that had been in town that night as well as her aunt and uncle and later Fuhrer Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Havoc when they arrived. Even Edward had thought it was probably best for her to tell them after all, all things considered but they would be the only ones to know her true ability. Nina was alright with that. The people here were all important to her and she felt they all deserved to know anyway, even Adrienne. Edward still didn’t like it but yet again he’d been there to see things and he very well couldn’t be left in the dark after that.
Today, Nina was sitting out on the stone wall in the back yard, her knees to her chest and just looking aimlessly out over the landscape. Adrienne came outside to see her there and he couldn’t help but to smile as he noticed her hair drifting around her face as the light breeze played with it. He was careful not to startle her as he walked over and put his arms around her, her back still to him. “Hey, how are you feeling today?” he asked softly.
Nina sighed heavily. “I’m here I guess. I’m just really worried about Amy but that’s nothing new.”
“I’m sure she’s alive and well Nina. Amy isn’t one to go down without a huge fight and I think if that happened we’d know about no matter where in Amestris we were.”
Nina smiled warily. “You’re right so long as someone was dumb enough to attack her directly but I’m worried that something more… diabolical… is happening to her. Forgive the cliché.”
Adrienne hopped up on the wall beside her, facing the opposite direction from her so he could look into her eyes. “I don’t think Amy would even fall for that. She may not be as brilliant as you are Nina but she’s no slouch either, at least that’s from what I’ve seen.”
Nina sighed. “I know you’re right Adrienne but I still can’t help but to worry about her, at least until we get her back.”
“I understand,” he said as he put his hand on her knee. “Hey, how would you like to go for a ride? If nothing else, it might help make you feel better if only for a little while.”
Nina looked at him completely confused. “Ride? What kind of ride?”
Adrienne hopped down off of the wall and smiled. “Well since everyone is out, I was thinking of giving my wings a bit of a workout. I haven’t been able to let them out since I got here.”
Nina turned around on the wall so she was now sitting so she could face him. “Are you sure it’ll be OK? I mean, what if someone accidently sees us?”
Adrienne just laughed. “And who would believe a flying man if they saw one? I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“I’m not too heavy for you to carry?”
“No way,” he said shaking his head. “Besides if I can carry you all by myself up to your room, I’m sure I can carry you and fly at the same time. If I think I might have a problem I’ll land, how’s that sound?”
Nina hopped down off of the wall and went over to him. “That might actually be fun. I’ve kind of always wondered what it would be like to fly…”
“Then that settles that then,” he said as he closed his eyes and let his snow white wings out. He then went over and picked Nina up holding her under her knees and around under her arms. Nina held on to him tightly. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be…”
With that Adrienne flapped his wings and took off causing Nina to hold more tightly onto him and slam her eyes shut. He could feel her trembling a bit and couldn’t help but to laugh. “You know, it looks a whole lot nicer if you open your eyes…”
Nina shook her head; this was more frightening than she had thought it was going to be.
“Come on Nina, trust me. It’s beautiful, not as much as you but still…”
His compliment took her off guard and she opened her eyes to look at him. In doing that she had a chance to see the landscape of Resembool like she never had before. It really was beautiful, the rolling green hillsides and pastures, the river flowing off into the distance in both directions, and it really was something to see. “Wow…” she said softly.
Adrienne couldn’t help but to chuckle. As they flew, a flock of birds flew by them. They were so close Nina could almost reach out and touch them but she wouldn’t dare try, she still didn’t trust letting go of him. “Is it always like this?” she asked him. “It’s so quiet and peaceful up here.”
“Yeah, that’s why I like it. No one bothers you up here because frankly they can’t. When I was little and I felt trapped I would sneak out late at night and just fly around the house in the moonlight. You think this is great, you should see it by the light of the moon. Everything looks even more amazing in the soft glow of the full moon.”
“Well maybe someday you can show me…” Nina said.
“I’d like that,” he replied smiling down at her. Just then he caught sight of an explosion. “What the heck was that?”
Nina had seen it too. “Can you get closer without us being seen?”
“I can try,” he said as he flew towards where they’d seen the explosion come from and then flew a bit lower. It was close enough for Nina to realize that her father and Fuhrer Mustang were up to something. “Adrienne, land… we have to check this out…”
Monday, January 2, 2012
A New Senshi: Fallen Angel - 4.6 - You Moron! You Got The Wrong Girl!
After managing to escape, the car had driven clear out of Resembool and on to East City. Rogers’ men knew they had to hurry and get the girl to the drop off location. They could only hope that they hadn’t been followed.
Rogers was waiting at a shack just outside the city to the west for them to arrive. Thankfully they had been smart and had approached the shack with the headlights of the car off but Rogers heard them as they came up and parked next to his truck.
“It’s about time you showed up Nelson,” he said as he stepped outside to meet them.
Nelson got out of the passanger door and just scowled at Rogers. “Yeah well you didn’t tell me that Nina had a twin sister. I had to sit there forever just trying to figure out which one was which. That and I had no way to know that the Fuhrer’s brat son or that the Boss’s idiot son was going to be there too. The last thing I was ready for was the mini Flame Alchemist and you said I wasn’t allowed to touch Adrienne...”
“You got Nina though right?”
Nelson nodded. “Yeah, she didn’t put up too much of a fight, though I did manage to sneak up on her when she was coming out of the bathroom. That chloroform you got for me to use really worked well. It knocked her out pretty quick once I was able to get her to stop struggling long enough. I have no idea why Kimball had so much trouble with her. Just so you know though I had to use it on her a few times on the way here though. That stuff only works so long before she wakes up so you may have to use it on her again before all is said and done.”
Rogers peeked under the cover they had put over the girl’s face. She looked like the picture that he’d been given so he was satisfied. “That’s fine; she won’t give me any trouble in the back of my refrigerated truck. She’ll be too cold to wake up until we get where we’re going. Now then, here,” Rogers said handing Nelson an envelope. “Get her into the back of my truck and then get out of here. As usual, hide out for awhile and when I need you again I’ll find you.”
Nelson took the envelope and took out the money inside counting it really quick before putting it in his coat. He and the driver then took Amy out of the car and put her in the back of Rogers’ truck and were gone in no time.
Once he was sure they were far enough away, Rogers got into his truck and drove off to make his end of the delivery. It would take him just over a day to get there and then he had to hide out until after dark before he could drop her off but finally he was able to make this delivery. When he arrived at Rothstein’s house, he made sure to come around to the back where the house received its deliveries so as not to look suspicious. When Rogers got out of the truck he looked like nothing more than a delivery driver. He walked up to the young kitchen staffer that was usually there to accept the deliveries and smiled at him.
“I have a personal delivery for Dr. Rothstein,” he said.
The young man understood what that meant right away and nodded his head. “You can take your package and head downstairs then.”
Rogers went to the back of his truck and opened it up. Amy was lying motionless on the floor of the truck. Picking her up, Rogers put her over his shoulder and went inside and down the stairs as he always did when making these deliveries. At the bottom of the stairs was a door. Using his free hand, Rogers knocked on it. “Dr. Rothstein sir, I have a delivery for you.”
A moment later the door opened and Dr. Rothstein was standing there. Seeing that he had a package he smiled. “Excellent! Bring it in and set it down on the table for me would you?”
Rogers nodded and stepped into the room. Rothstein closed the door behind him and locked it. Rogers put Amy down on the table being rather unceremonious as he did.
“Careful you bumbling idiot! I don’t want her hurt!”Rothstein said angrily, dropping the pleasant older man appearance now that they were alone. “This IS Nina right?”
Rogers nodded and went over and sat down in one of the chairs, kicking his feet up on the rolling table that was next to it like it was an ottoman. “Yeah, yeah, my boys got her for you.”
“Excellent!” he said as he removed the cover over her face. Rothstein’s face quickly turned angry. “You incompetent idiot! This isn’t Nina! This is her sister Amy!”
“What?” Rogers said shooting up out of the chair and going to over to look for himself. HE took the picture out of his pocket and held it against the sleeping girl’s face. “No way! This girl matches the picture you gave me, well except her hair is in a braid instead of in a pony tail but…”
“That’s how you were supposed to tell the difference idiot! I told you that! Nina always has her hair either down or in a pony tail; Amy without fail always has hers in a braid. How could you have gotten this wrong?!” Rothstein was ready to slug Rogers for his mistake then thought about it for a moment. Maybe he could use Amy after all, she was Nina’s twin after all so her genetic makeup should be pretty much the same as Nina’s and Amy was far less dangerous than Nina.
Covering her face back up Rothstein went over to his desk. “You’re lucky I can use her… put her into one of the empty cells back there for now. Oh and there’s a dead chimera in there, dispose of it, and there’s a girl that’s outlived her usefulness, dispose of her as well…” he said waving Rogers off.
“What about my money,” he said standing there with his arms crossed refusing to do anything else until he got paid.
Rothstein took an envelope from his desk and pulled a few of the bills out then threw it in Rogers’ direction. “I docked you two thousand sens for bringing me the wrong girl. Now do what I told you to do and get out of my sight, your incompetence makes me ill.”
Rogers took the envelope and tucked it away. He usually wouldn’t take this abuse but then most of his other associates didn’t pay him as well as the doctor did either. It was a good thing for Rothstein too that his pockets were so deep or else Rogers would have disposed of him already too.
Rogers was waiting at a shack just outside the city to the west for them to arrive. Thankfully they had been smart and had approached the shack with the headlights of the car off but Rogers heard them as they came up and parked next to his truck.
“It’s about time you showed up Nelson,” he said as he stepped outside to meet them.
Nelson got out of the passanger door and just scowled at Rogers. “Yeah well you didn’t tell me that Nina had a twin sister. I had to sit there forever just trying to figure out which one was which. That and I had no way to know that the Fuhrer’s brat son or that the Boss’s idiot son was going to be there too. The last thing I was ready for was the mini Flame Alchemist and you said I wasn’t allowed to touch Adrienne...”
“You got Nina though right?”
Nelson nodded. “Yeah, she didn’t put up too much of a fight, though I did manage to sneak up on her when she was coming out of the bathroom. That chloroform you got for me to use really worked well. It knocked her out pretty quick once I was able to get her to stop struggling long enough. I have no idea why Kimball had so much trouble with her. Just so you know though I had to use it on her a few times on the way here though. That stuff only works so long before she wakes up so you may have to use it on her again before all is said and done.”
Rogers peeked under the cover they had put over the girl’s face. She looked like the picture that he’d been given so he was satisfied. “That’s fine; she won’t give me any trouble in the back of my refrigerated truck. She’ll be too cold to wake up until we get where we’re going. Now then, here,” Rogers said handing Nelson an envelope. “Get her into the back of my truck and then get out of here. As usual, hide out for awhile and when I need you again I’ll find you.”
Nelson took the envelope and took out the money inside counting it really quick before putting it in his coat. He and the driver then took Amy out of the car and put her in the back of Rogers’ truck and were gone in no time.
Once he was sure they were far enough away, Rogers got into his truck and drove off to make his end of the delivery. It would take him just over a day to get there and then he had to hide out until after dark before he could drop her off but finally he was able to make this delivery. When he arrived at Rothstein’s house, he made sure to come around to the back where the house received its deliveries so as not to look suspicious. When Rogers got out of the truck he looked like nothing more than a delivery driver. He walked up to the young kitchen staffer that was usually there to accept the deliveries and smiled at him.
“I have a personal delivery for Dr. Rothstein,” he said.
The young man understood what that meant right away and nodded his head. “You can take your package and head downstairs then.”
Rogers went to the back of his truck and opened it up. Amy was lying motionless on the floor of the truck. Picking her up, Rogers put her over his shoulder and went inside and down the stairs as he always did when making these deliveries. At the bottom of the stairs was a door. Using his free hand, Rogers knocked on it. “Dr. Rothstein sir, I have a delivery for you.”
A moment later the door opened and Dr. Rothstein was standing there. Seeing that he had a package he smiled. “Excellent! Bring it in and set it down on the table for me would you?”
Rogers nodded and stepped into the room. Rothstein closed the door behind him and locked it. Rogers put Amy down on the table being rather unceremonious as he did.
“Careful you bumbling idiot! I don’t want her hurt!”Rothstein said angrily, dropping the pleasant older man appearance now that they were alone. “This IS Nina right?”
Rogers nodded and went over and sat down in one of the chairs, kicking his feet up on the rolling table that was next to it like it was an ottoman. “Yeah, yeah, my boys got her for you.”
“Excellent!” he said as he removed the cover over her face. Rothstein’s face quickly turned angry. “You incompetent idiot! This isn’t Nina! This is her sister Amy!”
“What?” Rogers said shooting up out of the chair and going to over to look for himself. HE took the picture out of his pocket and held it against the sleeping girl’s face. “No way! This girl matches the picture you gave me, well except her hair is in a braid instead of in a pony tail but…”
“That’s how you were supposed to tell the difference idiot! I told you that! Nina always has her hair either down or in a pony tail; Amy without fail always has hers in a braid. How could you have gotten this wrong?!” Rothstein was ready to slug Rogers for his mistake then thought about it for a moment. Maybe he could use Amy after all, she was Nina’s twin after all so her genetic makeup should be pretty much the same as Nina’s and Amy was far less dangerous than Nina.
Covering her face back up Rothstein went over to his desk. “You’re lucky I can use her… put her into one of the empty cells back there for now. Oh and there’s a dead chimera in there, dispose of it, and there’s a girl that’s outlived her usefulness, dispose of her as well…” he said waving Rogers off.
“What about my money,” he said standing there with his arms crossed refusing to do anything else until he got paid.
Rothstein took an envelope from his desk and pulled a few of the bills out then threw it in Rogers’ direction. “I docked you two thousand sens for bringing me the wrong girl. Now do what I told you to do and get out of my sight, your incompetence makes me ill.”
Rogers took the envelope and tucked it away. He usually wouldn’t take this abuse but then most of his other associates didn’t pay him as well as the doctor did either. It was a good thing for Rothstein too that his pockets were so deep or else Rogers would have disposed of him already too.
A New Senshi: Fallen Angel - 4.5 - How Could You Let This Happen?
Once they had explained everything that happened to the Military Police, a car took them all back to Nina’s house. Seeing the car pull up, Edward went out onto the porch to see what was going on since it was very rare for a car to be out here. Riley was the first to get out of the car, followed by Adrienne and Austin. Adrienne and Austin helped Nina get out since she was still too weak to stand on her own while Riley went up to talk to Edward.
Nina hadn’t transformed back and Edward recognized right away that something had happened while they’d been in town. He went to go to Nina but Riley stopped him. “Hi Mr. Elric,” he said. “I’m sorry we have to intrude on you like this but…”
Edward took a deep breath and shook his head. “Don’t worry… just tell me what happened. Where’s Amy? Why does Nina look so… well… defeated and broken?”
Riley shook his head. “Let’s get inside where it’s safer and we’ll explain everything.”
Adrienne and Austin brought Nina inside and helped her lay down on the couch, Riley and Edward followed right behind them. Hearing all of the commotion, Natalie came down the stairs to see them all there. “What’s going on?”
“Something’s happened… The boys were just about to explain…” Edward said, the look on his face grave, almost like he already knew what Riley was about to tell them. Natalie walked over to Edward and they both sat down. Adrienne sat on the couch with Nina, her head resting in his lap. Austin stood behind Riley who was sitting in a chair opposite Edward.
“Amy’s been kidnapped…” Riley finally said, his voice soft but angry. “We tried to stop it but there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t protect her and we couldn’t save her…”
“How did… how could she have been…?” Natalie started.
Adrienne decided to take this one. “The person that took her, he snuck up on her while she was in the bathroom at the tavern. Nina and I were right there but we didn’t know anything had happened until we heard Amy scream. I don’t know how he managed to sneak up on her but…”
“And who are you?” Natalie asked.
Adrienne bowed his head. “That’s right, you and I haven’t met before and I am truly sorry that we had to finally meet under these circumstances… I had actually hoped to greet you properly, but I’m Adrienne Rothstein. I would get up but…”
Natalie shook her head. “Don’t worry; it’s just nice to meet the young man that seems to have such a hold on my Nina’s heart. I can see why… but that’s for another time. What are you boys all doing here in Resembool anyway? Shouldn’t you be home with your families?”
“Riley and Austin were asked to look after Nina after what happened in Central…” Edward said. “It was Fuhrer Mustang’s idea. I knew leaving it to you boys wasn’t a good idea…”
“Hey wait a minute!” Austin started to protest. Riley put his hand up to stop him.
“I’m not saying you guys aren’t talented and capable young men, it’s just…” Edward continued. “Well, I was just concerned when Mustang suggested this knowing that you boys didn’t have the experience doing this kind of thing. But we both also knew that it was only going to be worse if we forced the police to be with them all the time… Either way, there’s nothing we can do about that now. The only thing we can do is get her back.”
“And we’re going to get her back no matter what,” Riley said. It was clear he was beating himself up inside for letting this happen. He cared just as much about Amy as any of her family in her and he’d let her down.
“Tell me everything that happened boys and don’t spare a single detail,” Edward said, his face turning more and more upset and angry by the minute. It wasn’t directed at any of the boys in the room; it was just a general anger that someone would dare mess with one of his daughters and right in his back yard on top of it.
Natalie was actually very proud of Edward though. He wasn’t flying off the handle like he would have once upon a time. She was actually impressed with how cool he’d managed to keep his head up to this point.
Riley started explaining that he and Austin had just gone out to make their way to the house to visit when they’d seen Amy and Nina come up the street and go into the tavern. He also said that they had noticed a strange man follow them up the street and then inside. They had stayed outside and had watched the girls through the window so they wouldn’t be noticed since they figured it would have been better than trying to explain things. When they saw that Amy got up, Austin had gone down the alley so he could listen at the back door. That was when he’d heard the commotion coming from inside and had run back up the alley to get Riley. It was only a moment or two after that the man emerged from the door with Amy.
Adrienne picked up the story from there and told them about what had happened inside up to the point they had met up with Riley and Austin. He even explained why he was in town to begin with as he could tell at least Edward was questioning his reason for being there at all though he was pretty sure Riley and Austin were questioning it as well.
Riley finished the story and explained what he’d seen Nina do and how things had happened right up to the point where they had taken off in the car.
“Did any of you get a look at the man that took Amy or the one that was driving the car?” Edward asked.
They all hung their heads a bit and shook them. “No we didn’t. All we know is that the car took off out of town on the road that leads to East City,” Riley said as he’d been the only there aside from Nina and at this point she had pretty much passed out.
Edward sighed heavily. He hated to ask this because he didn’t want to have to ask Mustang for anything else but… “Has anyone told the Fuhrer about this yet?”
“Not directly,” Riley replied. “I’m sure the news has gotten to him by now. You know how my dad is; he has fingers in everything even if he doesn’t always want to tell you about it.”
“That’s true but none the less,” Edward started as he got up. “I’ll be right back, you boys stay here. I need to make a phone call or two…”
“What are you doing Ed?” Natalie asked.
“First I’m calling Al and May, we’re going to need their help then I’m going to call Mustang. If he thought he could keep me here in the East he’s got another thing coming now and I need to make sure he knows it.”
“Don’t do anything rash Ed…” Natalie started then stopped herself. She already knew better than to try and stop him. The reason he’d kept such a cool head until now was only because he planned to let Roy have it instead of letting loose on the kids.
Once he was in the other room, Natalie turned her attention to Adrienne. “Would you mind taking her upstairs to bed so she can rest properly? Her room is the last one on the left.”
Adrienne nodded and smiled a bit. “Sure Mrs. Elric, I’d be happy to.” Adrienne carefully got up making sure not to jostle Nina too much and wake her up then lifted her up. Without waking up, Nina wrapped her arms around his neck loosely. He then took her and went upstairs to the room that Natalie had directed him to.
Natalie couldn’t help but to notice how strong he was. If he were that strong that he could lift and support Nina without her even really having to hold onto him, why hadn’t he been able to catch up with the man that had taken Amy? Something was strange here and Natalie wanted to figure it out. She knew she’d have to do it carefully though, the last thing she wanted was to make things any more difficult for Nina than they already were.
Riley looked at Natalie. “So what do we do now Mrs. Elric?”
Natalie sighed heavily. “The only thing we can do for now Riley, we wait. We can’t just go off half cocked considering we have no idea where they took Amy and we need a plan. I just feel sorry for whoever took her.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, whoever it was, Ed is going to rip that person apart…”
Nina hadn’t transformed back and Edward recognized right away that something had happened while they’d been in town. He went to go to Nina but Riley stopped him. “Hi Mr. Elric,” he said. “I’m sorry we have to intrude on you like this but…”
Edward took a deep breath and shook his head. “Don’t worry… just tell me what happened. Where’s Amy? Why does Nina look so… well… defeated and broken?”
Riley shook his head. “Let’s get inside where it’s safer and we’ll explain everything.”
Adrienne and Austin brought Nina inside and helped her lay down on the couch, Riley and Edward followed right behind them. Hearing all of the commotion, Natalie came down the stairs to see them all there. “What’s going on?”
“Something’s happened… The boys were just about to explain…” Edward said, the look on his face grave, almost like he already knew what Riley was about to tell them. Natalie walked over to Edward and they both sat down. Adrienne sat on the couch with Nina, her head resting in his lap. Austin stood behind Riley who was sitting in a chair opposite Edward.
“Amy’s been kidnapped…” Riley finally said, his voice soft but angry. “We tried to stop it but there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t protect her and we couldn’t save her…”
“How did… how could she have been…?” Natalie started.
Adrienne decided to take this one. “The person that took her, he snuck up on her while she was in the bathroom at the tavern. Nina and I were right there but we didn’t know anything had happened until we heard Amy scream. I don’t know how he managed to sneak up on her but…”
“And who are you?” Natalie asked.
Adrienne bowed his head. “That’s right, you and I haven’t met before and I am truly sorry that we had to finally meet under these circumstances… I had actually hoped to greet you properly, but I’m Adrienne Rothstein. I would get up but…”
Natalie shook her head. “Don’t worry; it’s just nice to meet the young man that seems to have such a hold on my Nina’s heart. I can see why… but that’s for another time. What are you boys all doing here in Resembool anyway? Shouldn’t you be home with your families?”
“Riley and Austin were asked to look after Nina after what happened in Central…” Edward said. “It was Fuhrer Mustang’s idea. I knew leaving it to you boys wasn’t a good idea…”
“Hey wait a minute!” Austin started to protest. Riley put his hand up to stop him.
“I’m not saying you guys aren’t talented and capable young men, it’s just…” Edward continued. “Well, I was just concerned when Mustang suggested this knowing that you boys didn’t have the experience doing this kind of thing. But we both also knew that it was only going to be worse if we forced the police to be with them all the time… Either way, there’s nothing we can do about that now. The only thing we can do is get her back.”
“And we’re going to get her back no matter what,” Riley said. It was clear he was beating himself up inside for letting this happen. He cared just as much about Amy as any of her family in her and he’d let her down.
“Tell me everything that happened boys and don’t spare a single detail,” Edward said, his face turning more and more upset and angry by the minute. It wasn’t directed at any of the boys in the room; it was just a general anger that someone would dare mess with one of his daughters and right in his back yard on top of it.
Natalie was actually very proud of Edward though. He wasn’t flying off the handle like he would have once upon a time. She was actually impressed with how cool he’d managed to keep his head up to this point.
Riley started explaining that he and Austin had just gone out to make their way to the house to visit when they’d seen Amy and Nina come up the street and go into the tavern. He also said that they had noticed a strange man follow them up the street and then inside. They had stayed outside and had watched the girls through the window so they wouldn’t be noticed since they figured it would have been better than trying to explain things. When they saw that Amy got up, Austin had gone down the alley so he could listen at the back door. That was when he’d heard the commotion coming from inside and had run back up the alley to get Riley. It was only a moment or two after that the man emerged from the door with Amy.
Adrienne picked up the story from there and told them about what had happened inside up to the point they had met up with Riley and Austin. He even explained why he was in town to begin with as he could tell at least Edward was questioning his reason for being there at all though he was pretty sure Riley and Austin were questioning it as well.
Riley finished the story and explained what he’d seen Nina do and how things had happened right up to the point where they had taken off in the car.
“Did any of you get a look at the man that took Amy or the one that was driving the car?” Edward asked.
They all hung their heads a bit and shook them. “No we didn’t. All we know is that the car took off out of town on the road that leads to East City,” Riley said as he’d been the only there aside from Nina and at this point she had pretty much passed out.
Edward sighed heavily. He hated to ask this because he didn’t want to have to ask Mustang for anything else but… “Has anyone told the Fuhrer about this yet?”
“Not directly,” Riley replied. “I’m sure the news has gotten to him by now. You know how my dad is; he has fingers in everything even if he doesn’t always want to tell you about it.”
“That’s true but none the less,” Edward started as he got up. “I’ll be right back, you boys stay here. I need to make a phone call or two…”
“What are you doing Ed?” Natalie asked.
“First I’m calling Al and May, we’re going to need their help then I’m going to call Mustang. If he thought he could keep me here in the East he’s got another thing coming now and I need to make sure he knows it.”
“Don’t do anything rash Ed…” Natalie started then stopped herself. She already knew better than to try and stop him. The reason he’d kept such a cool head until now was only because he planned to let Roy have it instead of letting loose on the kids.
Once he was in the other room, Natalie turned her attention to Adrienne. “Would you mind taking her upstairs to bed so she can rest properly? Her room is the last one on the left.”
Adrienne nodded and smiled a bit. “Sure Mrs. Elric, I’d be happy to.” Adrienne carefully got up making sure not to jostle Nina too much and wake her up then lifted her up. Without waking up, Nina wrapped her arms around his neck loosely. He then took her and went upstairs to the room that Natalie had directed him to.
Natalie couldn’t help but to notice how strong he was. If he were that strong that he could lift and support Nina without her even really having to hold onto him, why hadn’t he been able to catch up with the man that had taken Amy? Something was strange here and Natalie wanted to figure it out. She knew she’d have to do it carefully though, the last thing she wanted was to make things any more difficult for Nina than they already were.
Riley looked at Natalie. “So what do we do now Mrs. Elric?”
Natalie sighed heavily. “The only thing we can do for now Riley, we wait. We can’t just go off half cocked considering we have no idea where they took Amy and we need a plan. I just feel sorry for whoever took her.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, whoever it was, Ed is going to rip that person apart…”
A New Senshi: Fallen Angel - 4.4 - A Teen-Ager's Angst
During dinner Nina didn’t say a word and she refused to look at Edward. He had made her madder than she’d ever been. What did he know about Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne? The more she thought about it, the madder she got.
After dinner Nina got up and cleared her place then went and got her coat. “I’m going into town for a bit.”
“Wait, you shouldn’t go alone,” Edward said getting up to try and stop her. Nina just ignored him and went out the door. “Nina!”
Amy got up and put her hand on father’s shoulder. “I’ll go with her Dad. She’s got a lot to think about and maybe it’s better if I go instead…”
Edward looked over at Natalie to see if she was going to argue. When she didn’t he sighed and agreed. “Fine, just don’t let her out of your sight alight?”
Amy went and got her coat. “You got it. We’ll be back once she’s had a chance to let off some steam,” she replied as she ran out the door to catch up to Nina. Thankfully she hadn’t gotten far when Amy spotted her. “Nina! Wait up!” she called.
Nina stopped and turned around just as Amy caught up. “Did Dad make you come after me?”
“Yes and no, after you ignored him I volunteered to come. I figured you’d probably rather have me with you than him or Mom right now and you know there was no way he was just going to let you go off on your own even here at home.”
Nina sighed. “You’re right, besides you won’t try to tell me what I can and can’t do…”
Amy shrugged. “Well I could try but I know you won’t listen any more than I would if someone tried to do it to me.”
“That’s for sure,” Nina said with a laugh and the two of them started walking down the road again. “I just…”
“Look, I’ll make this easy; I heard what Dad said to you about Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne. I can’t say I blame him but I don’t know as I agree with him, not completely anyway. I mean I told you the other day I had a weird feeling about Adrienne but I don’t think he’s dangerous or that he could be involved. I mean you’d think that if he was involved the guy who tried to kidnap you wouldn’t have hurt him right? But it does seem weird that someone is so interested in girls from the doctor’s classes. I know you look up to the man but I think maybe, well just don’t let your guard down around him alright, you know, just in case.”
“But I don’t think that even Dr. Rothstein could do something like that. I mean think about it, using just me as an example, why would he ask me to be his assistant and then turn around and try to have me kidnapped? It just doesn’t make sense. If he wanted me for something don’t you think he’d just do it when I was already at the lab? Why doesn’t Dad see that?”
“Maybe someone is watching him and is picking victims based on what they see from the interactions with the people and Dr. Rothstein. I mean there’s no way to know for sure and I think that’s why Dad said what he did. Being around Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne by yourself could in itself be what’s dangerous especially if someone is watching them. He’s just worried about you Nina and I can’t say I’m not too.”
“I know you guys are worried about me and I do get it, really I do, but I think I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah but you don’t have to, I think that’s what they’re trying to tell you.”
Nina couldn’t help but to laugh. “That sounds weird coming from you.”
Amy laughed too. “I know, right? But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
Before either of them realized it, they had reached the main part of town. Making their way down the main street, the girls went into the tavern and sat down for a bit. Neither of them noticed that an unknown man had come in just after they had. He’d actually been following them since shortly after they’d left home.
Sitting a few tables over, he ordered a drink and observed the girls. He kept his head low so as not to show his face under his hood. Why did they have to be twins though? The unknown man was having trouble telling which girl was which. He needed Nina and only Nina. He was actually toying with the idea of grabbing them both though just to be safe. Kidnapping two girls at once wasn’t exactly going to be an easy task though so he didn’t want to have to do that if he didn’t absolutely have to. Staying at the table he observed them a bit longer hoping he’d be able to solidly know which girl was Nina.
After a bit, Amy got up from the table. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Nina and headed off towards the back of the room and down a hallway. In that hallway was the tavern’s restroom. The unknown man decided to take a chance that the one that had gotten up was Nina. This would be a good opportunity given that the one that had gone to the back would be alone and he’d have a better chance of sneaking out with her.
This left Nina sitting alone but that wouldn’t be for long. Nina was lost in thought a bit when Adrienne walked in the door. He was actually pretty surprised to see her sitting at the table alone. “Nina!” he called, waving to her as he went over to the table.
Nina looked up as he approached and was clearly confused and surprised to him there. “Adrienne? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you back in Central?”
Adrienne pouted a bit and looked at her slightly disappointed by her reaction. “You’re not happy to see me?”
Nina’s expression softened and she got up and hugged him. “No, I’m actually really happy to see you, just surprised that’s all. To be honest, I actually wanted to see you, there’s a lot I need to tell you.” At this point, Nina didn’t care that she had been warned away from telling him everything; she needed to tell him if they were going to have any chance of being together.
Pulling her close and gently returning her hug he closed his eyes and smiled. He was relieved that she wasn’t mad at him and that she really was actually happy to see him. “Oh there is huh?”
Nina nodded as she let him go. “Yeah, but I don’t think I should explain here, it’s not something that I can really talk about where other people are going to hear it.”
“Why don’t we go outside then?”
Nina shook her head. “I can’t, not right now. I’m waiting for Amy to get back from the bathroom. If I’m not here when she gets back it wouldn’t be a good idea…” Just then, a scream came from the back hallway. Nina knew right away that it was Amy. “Come on!” she yelled as she grabbed Adrienne’s arm and ran towards the hallway.
“What?” Adrienne managed as he tried to keep up with her.
“That was Amy’s scream!” she replied as they arrived just as the unknown man was dragging Amy out the back door. “We have to stop him!”
Nina put her hand on her necklace and transformed right in front of Adrienne. “You can do it at will now?” he asked a bit shocked as he followed her down the rest of the hallway towards the door.
“Later Adrienne,” she said as she threw open the door. As she did, a wave of flame shot down the alley forcing Nina to jump back. She nearly toppled over Adrienne when she did.
“Hold it right there!” a young man’s voice yelled coming from the street side opening of the alley.
Nina and Adrienne stepped outside to see the unknown man standing with a limp Amy between them and two more unknown men at the opening. One of the men at the opening of the alley was standing there holding his hand out like he had just snapped his fingers.
“Put her down,” the young man said, “and I might let you out of here without turning you to ash.”
The unknown man reached into his coat and pulled out a gun, firing it on the two that were blocking his way. He then charged towards the opening he’d created. Nina clapped her hands together and put them to the ground to create a wall in front of the fleeing man but she was a moment too late. The unknown man was able to jump over it as created it.
“Damn it!” she yelled as her and Adrienne took off after him. When they got to the end, Nina saw that the two that had tried to help them were Riley Mustang and Austin Havoc. She wanted to ask them what they were doing there but there was no time, the unknown man was getting away with Amy.
Riley got to his feet and went to create another wave of fire but Nina stopped him. “No, you can’t, you might hit Amy too!” she said putting her hand on his. Realizing they were wasting time, Riley and Nina took off running after the unknown man, Adrienne and Austin not too far behind. Nina knew she needed something to stop the unknown man but what? That’s when she noticed a banner hanging over the side walk up ahead. Nina stopped running for a moment and put her hand against the wall to think of a way to use that banner. When she did, the transmutation circle on the back of her hand flashed and the banner fell on top of the fleeing man acting as a temporary net.
Nina stood in a bit of shock for a moment. Her father had been right about her not needing to clap her hands together to make the circles work, she was a bit surprised. Her momentary pause though, gave the fleeing man enough time to throw her makeshift net off and start running again.
“What are you doing?!” Riley said as he ran by her. “You’re letting him get away!”
Nina snapped out of her momentary lapse into thought and started running to catch up to Riley. When she did, she started thinking again as she ran. She had to do something, figure out what to do next. Why couldn’t she figure this out? Meanwhile, Riley was firing flame bursts to either side of the fleeing man hoping to trip him up long enough for them to catch up.
Finally Nina got so frustrated that she clenched her fists tightly as she ran. When she did, the charm of her necklace flashed and a powerful burst of energy exploded from her towards the fleeing man. The wave crashed into him sending both he and Amy flying forward and to the ground.
“Nice!” Riley said as he tried to run faster to make sure they didn’t lose this opportunity.
It wouldn’t be enough though and Nina and Riley would find themselves too late. A car had pulled up to the curb when they weren’t paying attention and when the man and Amy fell to the ground, the driver of the car got out and quickly grabbed Amy, throwing her into the back of the car. The unknown man had gotten to his feet, shaky as he was, and had hopped into the passenger side of the car. It took off before Nina and Riley could get there to stop them.
“Damn it!!!!!!!” Nina yelled and slammed her fist into the wall beside her just as Adrienne and Austin finally caught up to them. Nina then crumpled to the ground, exhausted and in tears. How could she have let them get away with Amy?
After dinner Nina got up and cleared her place then went and got her coat. “I’m going into town for a bit.”
“Wait, you shouldn’t go alone,” Edward said getting up to try and stop her. Nina just ignored him and went out the door. “Nina!”
Amy got up and put her hand on father’s shoulder. “I’ll go with her Dad. She’s got a lot to think about and maybe it’s better if I go instead…”
Edward looked over at Natalie to see if she was going to argue. When she didn’t he sighed and agreed. “Fine, just don’t let her out of your sight alight?”
Amy went and got her coat. “You got it. We’ll be back once she’s had a chance to let off some steam,” she replied as she ran out the door to catch up to Nina. Thankfully she hadn’t gotten far when Amy spotted her. “Nina! Wait up!” she called.
Nina stopped and turned around just as Amy caught up. “Did Dad make you come after me?”
“Yes and no, after you ignored him I volunteered to come. I figured you’d probably rather have me with you than him or Mom right now and you know there was no way he was just going to let you go off on your own even here at home.”
Nina sighed. “You’re right, besides you won’t try to tell me what I can and can’t do…”
Amy shrugged. “Well I could try but I know you won’t listen any more than I would if someone tried to do it to me.”
“That’s for sure,” Nina said with a laugh and the two of them started walking down the road again. “I just…”
“Look, I’ll make this easy; I heard what Dad said to you about Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne. I can’t say I blame him but I don’t know as I agree with him, not completely anyway. I mean I told you the other day I had a weird feeling about Adrienne but I don’t think he’s dangerous or that he could be involved. I mean you’d think that if he was involved the guy who tried to kidnap you wouldn’t have hurt him right? But it does seem weird that someone is so interested in girls from the doctor’s classes. I know you look up to the man but I think maybe, well just don’t let your guard down around him alright, you know, just in case.”
“But I don’t think that even Dr. Rothstein could do something like that. I mean think about it, using just me as an example, why would he ask me to be his assistant and then turn around and try to have me kidnapped? It just doesn’t make sense. If he wanted me for something don’t you think he’d just do it when I was already at the lab? Why doesn’t Dad see that?”
“Maybe someone is watching him and is picking victims based on what they see from the interactions with the people and Dr. Rothstein. I mean there’s no way to know for sure and I think that’s why Dad said what he did. Being around Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne by yourself could in itself be what’s dangerous especially if someone is watching them. He’s just worried about you Nina and I can’t say I’m not too.”
“I know you guys are worried about me and I do get it, really I do, but I think I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah but you don’t have to, I think that’s what they’re trying to tell you.”
Nina couldn’t help but to laugh. “That sounds weird coming from you.”
Amy laughed too. “I know, right? But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
Before either of them realized it, they had reached the main part of town. Making their way down the main street, the girls went into the tavern and sat down for a bit. Neither of them noticed that an unknown man had come in just after they had. He’d actually been following them since shortly after they’d left home.
Sitting a few tables over, he ordered a drink and observed the girls. He kept his head low so as not to show his face under his hood. Why did they have to be twins though? The unknown man was having trouble telling which girl was which. He needed Nina and only Nina. He was actually toying with the idea of grabbing them both though just to be safe. Kidnapping two girls at once wasn’t exactly going to be an easy task though so he didn’t want to have to do that if he didn’t absolutely have to. Staying at the table he observed them a bit longer hoping he’d be able to solidly know which girl was Nina.
After a bit, Amy got up from the table. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Nina and headed off towards the back of the room and down a hallway. In that hallway was the tavern’s restroom. The unknown man decided to take a chance that the one that had gotten up was Nina. This would be a good opportunity given that the one that had gone to the back would be alone and he’d have a better chance of sneaking out with her.
This left Nina sitting alone but that wouldn’t be for long. Nina was lost in thought a bit when Adrienne walked in the door. He was actually pretty surprised to see her sitting at the table alone. “Nina!” he called, waving to her as he went over to the table.
Nina looked up as he approached and was clearly confused and surprised to him there. “Adrienne? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you back in Central?”
Adrienne pouted a bit and looked at her slightly disappointed by her reaction. “You’re not happy to see me?”
Nina’s expression softened and she got up and hugged him. “No, I’m actually really happy to see you, just surprised that’s all. To be honest, I actually wanted to see you, there’s a lot I need to tell you.” At this point, Nina didn’t care that she had been warned away from telling him everything; she needed to tell him if they were going to have any chance of being together.
Pulling her close and gently returning her hug he closed his eyes and smiled. He was relieved that she wasn’t mad at him and that she really was actually happy to see him. “Oh there is huh?”
Nina nodded as she let him go. “Yeah, but I don’t think I should explain here, it’s not something that I can really talk about where other people are going to hear it.”
“Why don’t we go outside then?”
Nina shook her head. “I can’t, not right now. I’m waiting for Amy to get back from the bathroom. If I’m not here when she gets back it wouldn’t be a good idea…” Just then, a scream came from the back hallway. Nina knew right away that it was Amy. “Come on!” she yelled as she grabbed Adrienne’s arm and ran towards the hallway.
“What?” Adrienne managed as he tried to keep up with her.
“That was Amy’s scream!” she replied as they arrived just as the unknown man was dragging Amy out the back door. “We have to stop him!”
Nina put her hand on her necklace and transformed right in front of Adrienne. “You can do it at will now?” he asked a bit shocked as he followed her down the rest of the hallway towards the door.
“Later Adrienne,” she said as she threw open the door. As she did, a wave of flame shot down the alley forcing Nina to jump back. She nearly toppled over Adrienne when she did.
“Hold it right there!” a young man’s voice yelled coming from the street side opening of the alley.
Nina and Adrienne stepped outside to see the unknown man standing with a limp Amy between them and two more unknown men at the opening. One of the men at the opening of the alley was standing there holding his hand out like he had just snapped his fingers.
“Put her down,” the young man said, “and I might let you out of here without turning you to ash.”
The unknown man reached into his coat and pulled out a gun, firing it on the two that were blocking his way. He then charged towards the opening he’d created. Nina clapped her hands together and put them to the ground to create a wall in front of the fleeing man but she was a moment too late. The unknown man was able to jump over it as created it.
“Damn it!” she yelled as her and Adrienne took off after him. When they got to the end, Nina saw that the two that had tried to help them were Riley Mustang and Austin Havoc. She wanted to ask them what they were doing there but there was no time, the unknown man was getting away with Amy.
Riley got to his feet and went to create another wave of fire but Nina stopped him. “No, you can’t, you might hit Amy too!” she said putting her hand on his. Realizing they were wasting time, Riley and Nina took off running after the unknown man, Adrienne and Austin not too far behind. Nina knew she needed something to stop the unknown man but what? That’s when she noticed a banner hanging over the side walk up ahead. Nina stopped running for a moment and put her hand against the wall to think of a way to use that banner. When she did, the transmutation circle on the back of her hand flashed and the banner fell on top of the fleeing man acting as a temporary net.
Nina stood in a bit of shock for a moment. Her father had been right about her not needing to clap her hands together to make the circles work, she was a bit surprised. Her momentary pause though, gave the fleeing man enough time to throw her makeshift net off and start running again.
“What are you doing?!” Riley said as he ran by her. “You’re letting him get away!”
Nina snapped out of her momentary lapse into thought and started running to catch up to Riley. When she did, she started thinking again as she ran. She had to do something, figure out what to do next. Why couldn’t she figure this out? Meanwhile, Riley was firing flame bursts to either side of the fleeing man hoping to trip him up long enough for them to catch up.
Finally Nina got so frustrated that she clenched her fists tightly as she ran. When she did, the charm of her necklace flashed and a powerful burst of energy exploded from her towards the fleeing man. The wave crashed into him sending both he and Amy flying forward and to the ground.
“Nice!” Riley said as he tried to run faster to make sure they didn’t lose this opportunity.
It wouldn’t be enough though and Nina and Riley would find themselves too late. A car had pulled up to the curb when they weren’t paying attention and when the man and Amy fell to the ground, the driver of the car got out and quickly grabbed Amy, throwing her into the back of the car. The unknown man had gotten to his feet, shaky as he was, and had hopped into the passenger side of the car. It took off before Nina and Riley could get there to stop them.
“Damn it!!!!!!!” Nina yelled and slammed her fist into the wall beside her just as Adrienne and Austin finally caught up to them. Nina then crumpled to the ground, exhausted and in tears. How could she have let them get away with Amy?
A New Senshi: Fallen Angel - 4.3 - The Truth Within The Circles
After Edward and Amy returned from picking up E.J., Edward set himself to look at the drawings of the transmutation circles while the girls helped their mother make dinner. He decided to take the drawings as well as Nina’s notes upstairs to his office so he could lay them out and look at them against the books he had. As he looked them over he recognized quite a few of the symbols, flame, metal, stone, explosive alchemy. Edward started to pull books off of his shelves and flip through them. As he found bits and pieces of information, Edward wrote furiously as his brain was working a mile a minute piecing the parts together.
He was so lost in his thoughts when Nina came up to see how things were going that when she knocked on the door he nearly jumped out of his chair.
“Hey Dad, how’s it going?” she asked as she pushed open the door.
Edward put his head down on the desk. “I think you may have been on to something Nina,” he replied sounding a bit tired.
“Excuse me?” she asked as she came in, closed the door, then walked over to look over his shoulder.
“Here,” he said lifting his head and pointing to her notes. “You mentioned a universal transmutation circle, the more I see the more I think you may have been right. I wouldn’t have believed though if you’d told me, but seeing it with my own eyes, looking at it, it seems to be the only answer. See here, you have the reverse Amestrian transmutation circle that fuses the traditional circle with the alchehestry circle and the runes all around and inside on that circle are all known symbols in alchemy, half on one hand’s circle and the other half on the other. Basically, these two circles together allow you to perform any type of alchemy.”
Nina sighed. She had really hoped that she had been wrong about her theory but if even her father thought the same thing there had to be merit in it. This was really going to make things more complicated for her, she knew it.
“Nina, when you told us about what happened, you mentioned that you were able to use the circles, how did you do it?” Edward asked.
Nina shrugged. “I thought I’d told you but I just clapped my hands together like you do and they lit up. Once I did that I was able to use the cement of the building to build a binding.”
“I was afraid of that, though I wonder if you even have to do that much given that you have the circles already drawn on the backs of your hands. When I put my hands together it’s to create the circle as well as activate it.”
Nina thought about it for a moment. “Maybe, considering I don’t need to say anything to transform like Mom does, I just have to focus and think about it to make it happen. Maybe the same could be true for my alchemy.”
Edward shook his head and sighed. “I shouldn’t be surprised given the line you come from…”
“What do you mean?” Nina said looking at him confused.
“Well you know about your mother and her powers, then there’s me and your mother both that have seen and been through the gate of truth. In there are all of the secrets of alchemy and then there’s your grandfather...”
“Your father? What about him?”
“He was a living, breathing philosopher’s stone. You know the stories of when Amestris was nearly destroyed and I’m not talking about the ones they told you and Amy when you were in school. What I never told you was that Father was created from your grandfather’s blood and then he basically made your grandfather immortal by making him into a philosopher’s stone. It’s a really complicated story and I’m not sure I even get all of it but I think that should be enough to explain.”
“So wait, you’re telling me because of all of this I’m the way I am? But why just me, why not Amy too? We are twins after all. Why is Amy more normal?”
Edward shrugged. “I have no idea. Honestly your mother and I thought if anything it would get split up between the two of you, Amy being more alchemically inclined like me and you having your mother’s abilities. I never would have guessed it would have all combined into just one of you.”
Nina sat down in a chair beside Edward’s desk and took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling but looking more like she was looking through it than at it and her arms hanging loosely by her sides. This was a lot to take in even after everything else that had happened. “Why…?” she said softly. “Why does it have to be me?” As she spoke a single stream of a tear ran down her cheek.
Edward got up and went over to her, kneeling down in front of her and taking his daughter’s hands in his. “Because it does Nina, plain and simple but you’re not alone, we’re all here to help you. I’ll tell you something your mother told me once, though it wasn’t used exactly for something like this but I think it still fits. She told me that there are some things in life that can’t be explained and the harder we try the further we get. Sometimes you just have to give in and that’s when it makes sense,” he said then paused for a moment. “Maybe it’s you because you’re the only one who can do this Nina.”
Nina turned her gaze to Edward and sighed a bit. “Maybe you’re right…”
“It has been known to happen from time to time,” Edward said with a laugh. Nina couldn’t help but to laugh as well. “But for now I think we better keep this a secret from anyone outside of this house. You’ve already made quite a name for yourself which puts you in danger, if this got out then there’s no telling how much more danger you’d find yourself in.”
“What about Adrienne?” Nina asked. “He already knows about my transforming, can I at least tell him the rest?”
Edward sighed heavily. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? I trust him completely Dad, he wouldn’t tell anyone if I asked him not to.”
“About that… I don’t think you should trust him so much Nina.” Edward got up and went to the window and looked out over the rolling fields of Resembool. “I wasn’t going to bring this up but given everything that we now know I think maybe I should. I’ve been talking to Mustang and he’s told me a few things that he’s found out from talking to that guy who tried to kidnap you.”
“What are you getting at Dad?”
“They think Dr. Rothstein may be involved in the kidnappings that have been going on in Central, either directly or indirectly. Every girl that has been taken was a student of his. Now I’m not saying that I believe that he’s involved but I don’t think now is a good time to be taking any chances. Even being around his son could put you in more danger.”
Nina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No way! That’s just a coincidence. There’s no way Dr. Rothstein or Adrienne have anything to do with it! They’re good people and I’ve learned so much already from Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne… Well…”
Nina wouldn’t get a chance to finish the thought because Amy knocked on the door. “Hey,” she said as she opened the door. “Mom says its dinner time.” Amy had actually been standing outside the door for awhile now and had heard everything Edward had said about Dr. Rothstein. She would keep that to herself for now though.
Edward smiled at Amy. “Thanks, we’ll be down in a minute.”
Amy saw the angry look on Nina’s face. “Everything alright?” she asked keeping up the appearance that she hadn’t heard anything though she already knew her twin wasn’t alright.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nina replied. “Don’t worry about it. Like Dad said, we’ll be down in a minute.”
“Alright…” Amy said shrugging as she left. She was sure Nina would most likely tell her about it later anyway.
Once she was gone, Edward went over to Nina and put his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, we can talk about this more later, we don’t want to keep them waiting.”
Nina pulled away from him, the look in her eyes still very much angry, and walked out the door. “Whatever.”
Edward sighed and followed after her. He felt terrible for making her mad at him like that but he knew it was for the best that he had done it. The last thing he wanted was for her to not know and get herself into trouble. For the first time though, Edward found himself actually wishing that his daughters hadn’t gotten into alchemy, that they didn’t stand out like they did. If he had known the cost for it he never would have encouraged them like he had. Who was he kidding though? They were just like him, even if they didn’t always want to admit it. He supposed the only thing he could do was give them what he could and pick them up afterwards if they fall, something that his numerous friends had done for him all of his life.
He was so lost in his thoughts when Nina came up to see how things were going that when she knocked on the door he nearly jumped out of his chair.
“Hey Dad, how’s it going?” she asked as she pushed open the door.
Edward put his head down on the desk. “I think you may have been on to something Nina,” he replied sounding a bit tired.
“Excuse me?” she asked as she came in, closed the door, then walked over to look over his shoulder.
“Here,” he said lifting his head and pointing to her notes. “You mentioned a universal transmutation circle, the more I see the more I think you may have been right. I wouldn’t have believed though if you’d told me, but seeing it with my own eyes, looking at it, it seems to be the only answer. See here, you have the reverse Amestrian transmutation circle that fuses the traditional circle with the alchehestry circle and the runes all around and inside on that circle are all known symbols in alchemy, half on one hand’s circle and the other half on the other. Basically, these two circles together allow you to perform any type of alchemy.”
Nina sighed. She had really hoped that she had been wrong about her theory but if even her father thought the same thing there had to be merit in it. This was really going to make things more complicated for her, she knew it.
“Nina, when you told us about what happened, you mentioned that you were able to use the circles, how did you do it?” Edward asked.
Nina shrugged. “I thought I’d told you but I just clapped my hands together like you do and they lit up. Once I did that I was able to use the cement of the building to build a binding.”
“I was afraid of that, though I wonder if you even have to do that much given that you have the circles already drawn on the backs of your hands. When I put my hands together it’s to create the circle as well as activate it.”
Nina thought about it for a moment. “Maybe, considering I don’t need to say anything to transform like Mom does, I just have to focus and think about it to make it happen. Maybe the same could be true for my alchemy.”
Edward shook his head and sighed. “I shouldn’t be surprised given the line you come from…”
“What do you mean?” Nina said looking at him confused.
“Well you know about your mother and her powers, then there’s me and your mother both that have seen and been through the gate of truth. In there are all of the secrets of alchemy and then there’s your grandfather...”
“Your father? What about him?”
“He was a living, breathing philosopher’s stone. You know the stories of when Amestris was nearly destroyed and I’m not talking about the ones they told you and Amy when you were in school. What I never told you was that Father was created from your grandfather’s blood and then he basically made your grandfather immortal by making him into a philosopher’s stone. It’s a really complicated story and I’m not sure I even get all of it but I think that should be enough to explain.”
“So wait, you’re telling me because of all of this I’m the way I am? But why just me, why not Amy too? We are twins after all. Why is Amy more normal?”
Edward shrugged. “I have no idea. Honestly your mother and I thought if anything it would get split up between the two of you, Amy being more alchemically inclined like me and you having your mother’s abilities. I never would have guessed it would have all combined into just one of you.”
Nina sat down in a chair beside Edward’s desk and took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling but looking more like she was looking through it than at it and her arms hanging loosely by her sides. This was a lot to take in even after everything else that had happened. “Why…?” she said softly. “Why does it have to be me?” As she spoke a single stream of a tear ran down her cheek.
Edward got up and went over to her, kneeling down in front of her and taking his daughter’s hands in his. “Because it does Nina, plain and simple but you’re not alone, we’re all here to help you. I’ll tell you something your mother told me once, though it wasn’t used exactly for something like this but I think it still fits. She told me that there are some things in life that can’t be explained and the harder we try the further we get. Sometimes you just have to give in and that’s when it makes sense,” he said then paused for a moment. “Maybe it’s you because you’re the only one who can do this Nina.”
Nina turned her gaze to Edward and sighed a bit. “Maybe you’re right…”
“It has been known to happen from time to time,” Edward said with a laugh. Nina couldn’t help but to laugh as well. “But for now I think we better keep this a secret from anyone outside of this house. You’ve already made quite a name for yourself which puts you in danger, if this got out then there’s no telling how much more danger you’d find yourself in.”
“What about Adrienne?” Nina asked. “He already knows about my transforming, can I at least tell him the rest?”
Edward sighed heavily. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? I trust him completely Dad, he wouldn’t tell anyone if I asked him not to.”
“About that… I don’t think you should trust him so much Nina.” Edward got up and went to the window and looked out over the rolling fields of Resembool. “I wasn’t going to bring this up but given everything that we now know I think maybe I should. I’ve been talking to Mustang and he’s told me a few things that he’s found out from talking to that guy who tried to kidnap you.”
“What are you getting at Dad?”
“They think Dr. Rothstein may be involved in the kidnappings that have been going on in Central, either directly or indirectly. Every girl that has been taken was a student of his. Now I’m not saying that I believe that he’s involved but I don’t think now is a good time to be taking any chances. Even being around his son could put you in more danger.”
Nina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No way! That’s just a coincidence. There’s no way Dr. Rothstein or Adrienne have anything to do with it! They’re good people and I’ve learned so much already from Dr. Rothstein and Adrienne… Well…”
Nina wouldn’t get a chance to finish the thought because Amy knocked on the door. “Hey,” she said as she opened the door. “Mom says its dinner time.” Amy had actually been standing outside the door for awhile now and had heard everything Edward had said about Dr. Rothstein. She would keep that to herself for now though.
Edward smiled at Amy. “Thanks, we’ll be down in a minute.”
Amy saw the angry look on Nina’s face. “Everything alright?” she asked keeping up the appearance that she hadn’t heard anything though she already knew her twin wasn’t alright.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nina replied. “Don’t worry about it. Like Dad said, we’ll be down in a minute.”
“Alright…” Amy said shrugging as she left. She was sure Nina would most likely tell her about it later anyway.
Once she was gone, Edward went over to Nina and put his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, we can talk about this more later, we don’t want to keep them waiting.”
Nina pulled away from him, the look in her eyes still very much angry, and walked out the door. “Whatever.”
Edward sighed and followed after her. He felt terrible for making her mad at him like that but he knew it was for the best that he had done it. The last thing he wanted was for her to not know and get herself into trouble. For the first time though, Edward found himself actually wishing that his daughters hadn’t gotten into alchemy, that they didn’t stand out like they did. If he had known the cost for it he never would have encouraged them like he had. Who was he kidding though? They were just like him, even if they didn’t always want to admit it. He supposed the only thing he could do was give them what he could and pick them up afterwards if they fall, something that his numerous friends had done for him all of his life.
A New Senshi: Fallen Angel - 4.2 - We Need To Talk
When the girls arrived at the train station, Edward was there to meet them. He smiled brightly and waved as they stepped out of the car.
“Hey Dad, where’s Mom and E.J.? I thought they would be with you,” Nina said as she walked over to him and put her bag down.
“Yeah, I was figuring there would be a bit more of a welcoming committee too,” Amy said as she came up behind Nina and put her bag down as well.
Edward chuckled. “Well things were a little crazy at the clinic so Mom went to help your aunt and uncle out and E.J.’s still at school. You’ll get to see them later, heck, your Mom might actually be home by the time we get there.” Edward then pulled the girls to him and gave them a hug. When he let them go he looked a bit sad and a bit frustrated.
“What’s the matter?” Amy asked seeing the look on her father’s face.
“I think you two grew while you were gone…” he replied letting out a long sigh. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you two are taller than me now.”
Nina and Amy both laughed. “You didn’t expect us to stay small forever did you?” Nina asked. She knew all about the height complex he’d had when he was their age. “We’re not short like you,” she continued, unable to resist the urge to poke some fun at him.
“DON’T CALL ME SHORT!!” he yelled, his face turning red. Edward quickly calmed down though when he saw the smiling and laughing faces of his not so little anymore girls. He just shook his head and smiled a bit while he picked up their bags. “Come on you two wise asses, let’s go home,” he said as he started to walk away leaving Nina and Amy to hurry in order to catch up with him.
When they got to the house, Natalie was indeed already there waiting for them. “Welcome home!” she said with a smile as they came through the door. “How was the trip?”
“Not so bad,” Amy said as they hung up their jackets and Edward set their bags down by the stairs. “Trains are still as uncomfortable as ever though.”
“Yeah, at this rate my butt will only recover just in time to go back,” Nina said with a laugh.
“You haven’t had any trouble since…” Natalie started until Nina interrupted her.
“No, nothing” she said quickly shaking her head. “Everything’s been fine.” Nina sighed. It wasn’t a surprise to her that they’d been told about what happened to her but she had hoped they’d forget about it or, at the very least, not talk about it. Though she supposed she should be thankful her mother brought it up, at least now it would be easier to talk to them about what had happened and she figured now was as good of a time as any. “Um, but about that, um, do we have time to talk?” she asked, her face turning more serious than it had been.
Natalie and Edward both looked at her wondering what could be on her mind that would cause her to make a face like that. Natalie then looked over at the clock and nodded. “Sure, I don’t have to get E.J. from school for a little while yet. What’s the matter Nina?” Natalie asked sounding concerned.
“You may want to sit down,” Nina said as she herself went and sat in a chair. Natalie, Edward, and Amy did the same taking her advice. “Well that night when that guy tried to kidnap me, something weird happened to me…”
“Weird? Weird how?” Edward asked.
Nina nodded. “Yeah, there was a point when I was actually pretty desperate and scared thinking that something really bad might happen when out of nowhere I was wrapped in this strange, bright light and I transformed…”
Natalie and Edward both looked at each other, their eyes wide. They then both sighed knowing this day would come for one of the girls and they had figured it would be Nina. Natalie leaned forward a bit and looked at Nina. “I need you to explain everything that happened that night Nina. It’s very important that you don’t leave out anything that happened before you transformed or after…”
Sitting back in her chair Nina nodded. She had never heard her mother sound so serious before so she knew this was something big. She also figured she had to tell them about Adrienne too, it was the only way she would be able to tell the story properly. “Alright…” she started and then told them everything from being at Dr. Rothstein’s house that night, to her and Adrienne walking, the entire incident with the kidnapper and then walking back to the dorms. She had left out Adrienne’s secret though, they didn’t need to know about that.
“When we were stopped in the square I put my hand on my chest getting ready to make fun of Adrienne for something and I changed back. It was really weird and the only thing left behind was this,” she finished as she reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace with the lantern charm. “I’ve tried to make it happen again since that night but I haven’t been able to. I can’t figure out what triggered it or anything.”
Natalie sighed and looked over at Edward who just nodded to her. It was time to show them Natalie’s special talents, not just tell them to them like stories. “Do you girls remember the stories I used to tell you about traveling worlds and the different people we met?” Natalie asked.
Both Nina and Amy nodded. “Yeah, but what’s that have to do with this?” Nina asked.
“I’ll show you, wait here for a minute,” Natalie replied as she got up and went upstairs. A few moments later she returned with what appeared to be a pen in her hand. She then stood in front of them all and lifted the pen into the air. “Charon Star Power Make-up!” she said as she was enveloped in light. Nina recognized it right away; it was the same light that she’d been wrapped in that night. When the light faded away Natalie was standing there in her Sailor Charon outfit from the old days, complete with the black sailor dress, the crimson skirt, collar and boots, the red bows and the golden tiara with the crimson jewel in it. She even had her lantern staff.
“That’s exactly what happened to me,” Nina said as she got up and looked at her mother. “My outfit was a lot different though.”
Natalie chuckled. “I’d imagine it probably would be. Here, let me see your necklace,” she said as she went over and held the charm from Nina’s necklace up to compare it to the lantern head of her staff. “As I thought, take a look.”
Nina looked down at the necklace and then at the top of the staff, they were the same type of lantern. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “So… then… what…”
“Well you remember the stories; it was under my power that we were able to travel to different places. That’s the power of the star seed in my soul and that power comes from a world that is completely different than here.” Natalie then sighed heavily. “This can’t leave this room and I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner. We knew one day one of you girls would most likely inherit my powers we just weren’t completely sure which of you it would be.”
“So then I have this power to travel worlds too?” Nina asked.
“That would be my guess or at least some variation of it. I don’t honestly know all too much about the specifics of how the abilities pass from one generation to the next. But you should also have more than just that since I also have an offensive ability called the Spatial Rift but I can’t show you that in here… I’d blow up the entire house.” Natalie then looked up at the clock and looked over at Amy and Edward. “Would you two go get E.J. from school? I think I need to spend more time explaining things to Nina…”
“Sure no problem, come on Amy,” Edward said as he got up and got ready to go.
Amy didn’t look like she was inclined to go with him. She wanted to stay and hear this too. It was all pretty unbelievable. “But…”
Edward gave her a look that said not to argue. Amy sighed heavily and finally got up and went with her father. She just hoped Nina would fill her in later.
Once they were gone Natalie transformed back to normal and sat back down with Nina. “Now, we have to figure out how to get you to transform again. We’ll be able to figure more things out if I can have a look at you.”
“But I don’t know how I did it to begin with.”
Natalie thought about it for a minute. “Well let’s try this first… stand up and put your hand on the charm and say the same thing I did when I transformed, Charon Star Power Make-up.”
Nina did as her mother asked and stood putting her hand on the charm. “Charon Star Power Make-up!” Nina just stood there, nothing happening. She looked over at her mother.
“Weird… OK, then try this, put your hand on the charm again and just focus on the feeling you felt that night, clearly focus on it and then will yourself to transform again. Just relax and remember that desperate need”
“But I’ve already tried that…”Nina started to protest.
Natalie shook her head. “Just do it alright? I’m thinking you were focusing too much on everything and not enough on that one moment, now go on, give it a try.”
Nina sighed and put her hand on the charm again closing her eyes. She replayed that night in her head, the feeling of him having her pinned down and feeling desperate. Then she remembered something she hadn’t before, a momentary feeling of sadness that she’d never see her loved ones again. When she remembered that, the warm, bright light enveloped her once more and she transformed. Natalie looked Nina over once the light vanished.
“Well that’s certainly interesting… What are those?” she asked seeing the circles on the backs of Nina’s hands. She took Nina’s hands into hers and examined the transmutation circles. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Now I’m wishing I hadn’t sent Edward to get E.J., he’d probably know better what all of this meant…”
“Well I was able to manage finding some of them,” Nina said taking her hands back from her mother and going over to her bag. She pulled out the notes she’d written down that day in the Central Library and handed them to Natalie. “I know there’s alchehestry there and look here,” she said pointing to a symbol on the page. “The books I found said this one is commonly used in teleportation and transportation alchemy. At first I didn’t understand exactly how that was possible since I’d never read anything else about the subject but since your power had something to do with something similar, it doesn’t seem so farfetched to me anymore.”
“There’s a lot more there than what you have written here though.”
“Well I couldn’t exactly get all of them when I was transformed before so I wrote down what I remembered of the circles and went from there. Actually, since I did manage to transform again, would you mind helping me copy down the rest of what’s here so later on we can look them up?”
Natalie nodded. “That’s a good idea. Come into the other room and we’ll sit at the table and take care of it.”
“Hey Dad, where’s Mom and E.J.? I thought they would be with you,” Nina said as she walked over to him and put her bag down.
“Yeah, I was figuring there would be a bit more of a welcoming committee too,” Amy said as she came up behind Nina and put her bag down as well.
Edward chuckled. “Well things were a little crazy at the clinic so Mom went to help your aunt and uncle out and E.J.’s still at school. You’ll get to see them later, heck, your Mom might actually be home by the time we get there.” Edward then pulled the girls to him and gave them a hug. When he let them go he looked a bit sad and a bit frustrated.
“What’s the matter?” Amy asked seeing the look on her father’s face.
“I think you two grew while you were gone…” he replied letting out a long sigh. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you two are taller than me now.”
Nina and Amy both laughed. “You didn’t expect us to stay small forever did you?” Nina asked. She knew all about the height complex he’d had when he was their age. “We’re not short like you,” she continued, unable to resist the urge to poke some fun at him.
“DON’T CALL ME SHORT!!” he yelled, his face turning red. Edward quickly calmed down though when he saw the smiling and laughing faces of his not so little anymore girls. He just shook his head and smiled a bit while he picked up their bags. “Come on you two wise asses, let’s go home,” he said as he started to walk away leaving Nina and Amy to hurry in order to catch up with him.
When they got to the house, Natalie was indeed already there waiting for them. “Welcome home!” she said with a smile as they came through the door. “How was the trip?”
“Not so bad,” Amy said as they hung up their jackets and Edward set their bags down by the stairs. “Trains are still as uncomfortable as ever though.”
“Yeah, at this rate my butt will only recover just in time to go back,” Nina said with a laugh.
“You haven’t had any trouble since…” Natalie started until Nina interrupted her.
“No, nothing” she said quickly shaking her head. “Everything’s been fine.” Nina sighed. It wasn’t a surprise to her that they’d been told about what happened to her but she had hoped they’d forget about it or, at the very least, not talk about it. Though she supposed she should be thankful her mother brought it up, at least now it would be easier to talk to them about what had happened and she figured now was as good of a time as any. “Um, but about that, um, do we have time to talk?” she asked, her face turning more serious than it had been.
Natalie and Edward both looked at her wondering what could be on her mind that would cause her to make a face like that. Natalie then looked over at the clock and nodded. “Sure, I don’t have to get E.J. from school for a little while yet. What’s the matter Nina?” Natalie asked sounding concerned.
“You may want to sit down,” Nina said as she herself went and sat in a chair. Natalie, Edward, and Amy did the same taking her advice. “Well that night when that guy tried to kidnap me, something weird happened to me…”
“Weird? Weird how?” Edward asked.
Nina nodded. “Yeah, there was a point when I was actually pretty desperate and scared thinking that something really bad might happen when out of nowhere I was wrapped in this strange, bright light and I transformed…”
Natalie and Edward both looked at each other, their eyes wide. They then both sighed knowing this day would come for one of the girls and they had figured it would be Nina. Natalie leaned forward a bit and looked at Nina. “I need you to explain everything that happened that night Nina. It’s very important that you don’t leave out anything that happened before you transformed or after…”
Sitting back in her chair Nina nodded. She had never heard her mother sound so serious before so she knew this was something big. She also figured she had to tell them about Adrienne too, it was the only way she would be able to tell the story properly. “Alright…” she started and then told them everything from being at Dr. Rothstein’s house that night, to her and Adrienne walking, the entire incident with the kidnapper and then walking back to the dorms. She had left out Adrienne’s secret though, they didn’t need to know about that.
“When we were stopped in the square I put my hand on my chest getting ready to make fun of Adrienne for something and I changed back. It was really weird and the only thing left behind was this,” she finished as she reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace with the lantern charm. “I’ve tried to make it happen again since that night but I haven’t been able to. I can’t figure out what triggered it or anything.”
Natalie sighed and looked over at Edward who just nodded to her. It was time to show them Natalie’s special talents, not just tell them to them like stories. “Do you girls remember the stories I used to tell you about traveling worlds and the different people we met?” Natalie asked.
Both Nina and Amy nodded. “Yeah, but what’s that have to do with this?” Nina asked.
“I’ll show you, wait here for a minute,” Natalie replied as she got up and went upstairs. A few moments later she returned with what appeared to be a pen in her hand. She then stood in front of them all and lifted the pen into the air. “Charon Star Power Make-up!” she said as she was enveloped in light. Nina recognized it right away; it was the same light that she’d been wrapped in that night. When the light faded away Natalie was standing there in her Sailor Charon outfit from the old days, complete with the black sailor dress, the crimson skirt, collar and boots, the red bows and the golden tiara with the crimson jewel in it. She even had her lantern staff.
“That’s exactly what happened to me,” Nina said as she got up and looked at her mother. “My outfit was a lot different though.”
Natalie chuckled. “I’d imagine it probably would be. Here, let me see your necklace,” she said as she went over and held the charm from Nina’s necklace up to compare it to the lantern head of her staff. “As I thought, take a look.”
Nina looked down at the necklace and then at the top of the staff, they were the same type of lantern. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “So… then… what…”
“Well you remember the stories; it was under my power that we were able to travel to different places. That’s the power of the star seed in my soul and that power comes from a world that is completely different than here.” Natalie then sighed heavily. “This can’t leave this room and I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner. We knew one day one of you girls would most likely inherit my powers we just weren’t completely sure which of you it would be.”
“So then I have this power to travel worlds too?” Nina asked.
“That would be my guess or at least some variation of it. I don’t honestly know all too much about the specifics of how the abilities pass from one generation to the next. But you should also have more than just that since I also have an offensive ability called the Spatial Rift but I can’t show you that in here… I’d blow up the entire house.” Natalie then looked up at the clock and looked over at Amy and Edward. “Would you two go get E.J. from school? I think I need to spend more time explaining things to Nina…”
“Sure no problem, come on Amy,” Edward said as he got up and got ready to go.
Amy didn’t look like she was inclined to go with him. She wanted to stay and hear this too. It was all pretty unbelievable. “But…”
Edward gave her a look that said not to argue. Amy sighed heavily and finally got up and went with her father. She just hoped Nina would fill her in later.
Once they were gone Natalie transformed back to normal and sat back down with Nina. “Now, we have to figure out how to get you to transform again. We’ll be able to figure more things out if I can have a look at you.”
“But I don’t know how I did it to begin with.”
Natalie thought about it for a minute. “Well let’s try this first… stand up and put your hand on the charm and say the same thing I did when I transformed, Charon Star Power Make-up.”
Nina did as her mother asked and stood putting her hand on the charm. “Charon Star Power Make-up!” Nina just stood there, nothing happening. She looked over at her mother.
“Weird… OK, then try this, put your hand on the charm again and just focus on the feeling you felt that night, clearly focus on it and then will yourself to transform again. Just relax and remember that desperate need”
“But I’ve already tried that…”Nina started to protest.
Natalie shook her head. “Just do it alright? I’m thinking you were focusing too much on everything and not enough on that one moment, now go on, give it a try.”
Nina sighed and put her hand on the charm again closing her eyes. She replayed that night in her head, the feeling of him having her pinned down and feeling desperate. Then she remembered something she hadn’t before, a momentary feeling of sadness that she’d never see her loved ones again. When she remembered that, the warm, bright light enveloped her once more and she transformed. Natalie looked Nina over once the light vanished.
“Well that’s certainly interesting… What are those?” she asked seeing the circles on the backs of Nina’s hands. She took Nina’s hands into hers and examined the transmutation circles. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Now I’m wishing I hadn’t sent Edward to get E.J., he’d probably know better what all of this meant…”
“Well I was able to manage finding some of them,” Nina said taking her hands back from her mother and going over to her bag. She pulled out the notes she’d written down that day in the Central Library and handed them to Natalie. “I know there’s alchehestry there and look here,” she said pointing to a symbol on the page. “The books I found said this one is commonly used in teleportation and transportation alchemy. At first I didn’t understand exactly how that was possible since I’d never read anything else about the subject but since your power had something to do with something similar, it doesn’t seem so farfetched to me anymore.”
“There’s a lot more there than what you have written here though.”
“Well I couldn’t exactly get all of them when I was transformed before so I wrote down what I remembered of the circles and went from there. Actually, since I did manage to transform again, would you mind helping me copy down the rest of what’s here so later on we can look them up?”
Natalie nodded. “That’s a good idea. Come into the other room and we’ll sit at the table and take care of it.”
A New Senshi: Fallen Angel - 4.1 - Time To Go Home
Exam week passed in the blink of an eye and before any of them knew it the time had come to leave for the semester break. Nina and Julia were in their room packing up their things to head out when Amy came to the door. “Hey are you almost ready in there?” Amy asked through the closed door.
Nina went over and opened it. “Yeah, just finishing up. What’s the hurry though? Our train doesn’t leave for another couple of hours.”
Amy just chuckled. “I actually finished before you and I wanted to be the one hurrying you up for once?”
Nina just shook her head and laughed. “Mark it down then, it probably won’t happen again,” she said as she put the last thing into her bag and closed it up. Picking up her bag and starting to leave, Nina waved good-bye to Julia. “I’ll see you in two weeks, take care.”
Julia smiled and waved back. “You too Nina.”
Amy and Nina left the dormitories and started walking towards the train station. They were in no particular rush and Amy took this time to finally talk to her sister. Things had been so busy they really hadn’t talked in awhile. “Nina, can I ask you something?” Amy asked as they walked.
“Sure, what’s on your mind?” Nina replied looking over at Amy curiously.
“Has everything been alright? I mean, there’s been so much that’s happened since we got to the Academy. I’m just worried about you, I know there’s been a lot of people that have given you grief because of the attention you’re getting and then to have someone try to kidnap you… I don’t know…” Amy sighed. “I just haven’t really gotten to see you that often and well, I can’t help but to worry about you I guess.”
It was rare to see Amy like this, especially when it came to her so Nina wasn’t really sure what to say. “Why worry? I mean you can see I’m fine. Besides, I’m used to people either liking me or hating me. If I cared I’d honestly be more like you and well we know I’m not… I’ve never had a lot of friends and I’m perfectly fine with that.”
Amy sighed. “I know, I guess I just hoped that would change a little once we left Resembool.”
“Well it has, I do have a boyfriend now… does that help you feel better?” Nina replied with a laugh.
“A little but I don’t know, I get a weird feeling about him. The more I see of Adrienne the more I’m not sure he’s exactly right for you.”
Nina looked at her confused. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know; just call it a gut feeling I guess. I just get the feeling that there’s something not exactly right about him, that he’s not normal.”
Nina’s breath caught in her chest. She was pretty sure that Amy didn’t know about Adrienne’s secret but damn, why did she have to say that? She had to think about this carefully before she responded. “I admit, there are times when it surprises me that he doesn’t know about certain things, but that’s only because he was pretty much kept at home until about a year ago. He was pretty sick as a kid and Dr. Rothstein was just trying to be protective…”
Amy shook her head. “I don’t think that’s it but then it’s probably nothing. I mean, it’s probably just me being jealous that someone might actually be able to take my sister away.”
Nina stopped and just looked at Amy. “Take me away? Amy… I’m not going anywhere and you’re my sister, we may not always get along but no one’s going to take me anywhere, especially if it means I don’t get to see you again.”
“I’m not sure that’s really it either. I mean there is that, but it also feels like, well recently it’s felt like you’re somewhere I can’t reach. It’s like you’ve moved onto another part of life that I can’t follow you to. Something’s changed about you Nina and I can’t put my finger on it. I just don’t want to be left behind anymore than I guess I already have been.”
Tears started to stream down from Nina’s eyes as she dropped her bag and reached out and hugged her sister. It really was naïve of her to think she could keep anything a secret from Amy; that she wouldn’t know something was up. She knew she couldn’t tell Amy about Adrienne, but maybe it was time for her to let Amy in on her other secret. Who knows, maybe Amy could lend a new perspective to the problem. “Look, when we get back home I do have something I need to tell you, just not now OK?”
“Something did happen didn’t it?”
Nina let go of Amy and hung her head a bit. “Yeah, but I think it’ll be easier to explain if I wait until we’re home and Mom and Dad can hear it too. Besides, I don’t know if it’s really safe to talk about out in the open like this.”
Amy looked at Nina concerned. “Not safe? Nina, what did you get yourself caught up in?”
Nina waved her hands frantically, her eyes going wide and her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “No! It’s nothing like that I swear!” She sighed heavily. “It’s not bad it’s just… difficult… Like I said I’ll explain when we get back home OK? I’m not in any danger that I can tell or anything like that.”
Amy eyed her suspiciously but then shrugged it off. She wasn’t going to get anywhere right now and she was pretty sure of it. The rest of the walk to the train station was made in silence. Amy could only wonder what Nina had been keeping secret.
When they arrived at the train station they were still a bit early so they decided to go buy a few things to snack on while they were on the train. It killed enough time that when they returned to the station, the train was at the platform and waiting. Boarding they got settled in for the trip back to Resembool. What they didn’t see was that they weren’t the only ones making the trip back East.
In the next car, Riley Mustang and Austin Havoc watched from their window as Nina and Amy boarded. Riley’s father had given them explicit instructions to watch the twins and nothing more. Breda and Fury unfortunately wouldn’t be able to make this trip with them as they had failed some of their final exams and were being made to take make-up classes during the break. It was alright though, Riley and Austin were pretty sure that they could handle anything that might crop up.
In the car before the one that Nina and Amy had settled in, Adrienne watched the girls board the train as well. He had convinced his father to let him go though it had been quite a fight for his father to allow him to go alone. Adrienne had relentlessly argued with his father until Rothstein couldn’t argue anymore and had finally just given in. He knew that he wouldn’t really be able to spend much time with Nina but that was alright, he just wanted to watch over her. He didn’t trust that she would be safe considering he knew that the MPs and the military wouldn’t be around as heavily as they were in Central. Even that had stopped someone from trying to hurt her so Adrienne knew he had to at least be close by, just in case.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the train whistle blew and then the train pulled out of the station. It was finally time to head home.
Nina went over and opened it. “Yeah, just finishing up. What’s the hurry though? Our train doesn’t leave for another couple of hours.”
Amy just chuckled. “I actually finished before you and I wanted to be the one hurrying you up for once?”
Nina just shook her head and laughed. “Mark it down then, it probably won’t happen again,” she said as she put the last thing into her bag and closed it up. Picking up her bag and starting to leave, Nina waved good-bye to Julia. “I’ll see you in two weeks, take care.”
Julia smiled and waved back. “You too Nina.”
Amy and Nina left the dormitories and started walking towards the train station. They were in no particular rush and Amy took this time to finally talk to her sister. Things had been so busy they really hadn’t talked in awhile. “Nina, can I ask you something?” Amy asked as they walked.
“Sure, what’s on your mind?” Nina replied looking over at Amy curiously.
“Has everything been alright? I mean, there’s been so much that’s happened since we got to the Academy. I’m just worried about you, I know there’s been a lot of people that have given you grief because of the attention you’re getting and then to have someone try to kidnap you… I don’t know…” Amy sighed. “I just haven’t really gotten to see you that often and well, I can’t help but to worry about you I guess.”
It was rare to see Amy like this, especially when it came to her so Nina wasn’t really sure what to say. “Why worry? I mean you can see I’m fine. Besides, I’m used to people either liking me or hating me. If I cared I’d honestly be more like you and well we know I’m not… I’ve never had a lot of friends and I’m perfectly fine with that.”
Amy sighed. “I know, I guess I just hoped that would change a little once we left Resembool.”
“Well it has, I do have a boyfriend now… does that help you feel better?” Nina replied with a laugh.
“A little but I don’t know, I get a weird feeling about him. The more I see of Adrienne the more I’m not sure he’s exactly right for you.”
Nina looked at her confused. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know; just call it a gut feeling I guess. I just get the feeling that there’s something not exactly right about him, that he’s not normal.”
Nina’s breath caught in her chest. She was pretty sure that Amy didn’t know about Adrienne’s secret but damn, why did she have to say that? She had to think about this carefully before she responded. “I admit, there are times when it surprises me that he doesn’t know about certain things, but that’s only because he was pretty much kept at home until about a year ago. He was pretty sick as a kid and Dr. Rothstein was just trying to be protective…”
Amy shook her head. “I don’t think that’s it but then it’s probably nothing. I mean, it’s probably just me being jealous that someone might actually be able to take my sister away.”
Nina stopped and just looked at Amy. “Take me away? Amy… I’m not going anywhere and you’re my sister, we may not always get along but no one’s going to take me anywhere, especially if it means I don’t get to see you again.”
“I’m not sure that’s really it either. I mean there is that, but it also feels like, well recently it’s felt like you’re somewhere I can’t reach. It’s like you’ve moved onto another part of life that I can’t follow you to. Something’s changed about you Nina and I can’t put my finger on it. I just don’t want to be left behind anymore than I guess I already have been.”
Tears started to stream down from Nina’s eyes as she dropped her bag and reached out and hugged her sister. It really was naïve of her to think she could keep anything a secret from Amy; that she wouldn’t know something was up. She knew she couldn’t tell Amy about Adrienne, but maybe it was time for her to let Amy in on her other secret. Who knows, maybe Amy could lend a new perspective to the problem. “Look, when we get back home I do have something I need to tell you, just not now OK?”
“Something did happen didn’t it?”
Nina let go of Amy and hung her head a bit. “Yeah, but I think it’ll be easier to explain if I wait until we’re home and Mom and Dad can hear it too. Besides, I don’t know if it’s really safe to talk about out in the open like this.”
Amy looked at Nina concerned. “Not safe? Nina, what did you get yourself caught up in?”
Nina waved her hands frantically, her eyes going wide and her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “No! It’s nothing like that I swear!” She sighed heavily. “It’s not bad it’s just… difficult… Like I said I’ll explain when we get back home OK? I’m not in any danger that I can tell or anything like that.”
Amy eyed her suspiciously but then shrugged it off. She wasn’t going to get anywhere right now and she was pretty sure of it. The rest of the walk to the train station was made in silence. Amy could only wonder what Nina had been keeping secret.
When they arrived at the train station they were still a bit early so they decided to go buy a few things to snack on while they were on the train. It killed enough time that when they returned to the station, the train was at the platform and waiting. Boarding they got settled in for the trip back to Resembool. What they didn’t see was that they weren’t the only ones making the trip back East.
In the next car, Riley Mustang and Austin Havoc watched from their window as Nina and Amy boarded. Riley’s father had given them explicit instructions to watch the twins and nothing more. Breda and Fury unfortunately wouldn’t be able to make this trip with them as they had failed some of their final exams and were being made to take make-up classes during the break. It was alright though, Riley and Austin were pretty sure that they could handle anything that might crop up.
In the car before the one that Nina and Amy had settled in, Adrienne watched the girls board the train as well. He had convinced his father to let him go though it had been quite a fight for his father to allow him to go alone. Adrienne had relentlessly argued with his father until Rothstein couldn’t argue anymore and had finally just given in. He knew that he wouldn’t really be able to spend much time with Nina but that was alright, he just wanted to watch over her. He didn’t trust that she would be safe considering he knew that the MPs and the military wouldn’t be around as heavily as they were in Central. Even that had stopped someone from trying to hurt her so Adrienne knew he had to at least be close by, just in case.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the train whistle blew and then the train pulled out of the station. It was finally time to head home.
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