Chapter Twelve
(THEO)
I took off at a sprint after Sarah, but she had always been faster than me, and I lost sight of her quickly. Kain came up behind me, Maes and Clint running, but still very far away.
"Where is she?" he asked, looking frantic.
"She's gone...Keep...running..."
"Man, what was she looking at? It wasn't..."
His voice trailed off, and I just stared. He knew too. I shook my head. "She can't do it. She won't. She'll come to her senses..." I whispered hoarsly. The sand was drying my lips and throat.
"Go find her,"I told him. I fell into the sand after he took off, waiting for Maes and Clint.
"Where's Kain?" she asked.
"He's going to get Sarah," I mumbled, my head swaying. I was dehydrated. I remembered that it was Travis who filled up the canteen. I'm pretty sure Kain had it right now. I groaned.
"You're sick..." she whispered, putting her hand to my forehead. I quickly shook her away, feeling my stomach twist urgently. I turned on my hands and knees, and started dry-heaving.
"Theo!" Maes yelled.
"I'm okay," I choked, propping myself up on my haunches, only to collapse again. Maes leaned down next to me.
"What are we going to do?" she said pathetically. I wasn't sure if she was saying it to me, or herself.
"I don't know..." I whispered after a pregnant pause. She put her head on my shoulder, as if I could solve everything. I wished.
"Maes...I don't feel good..." Clint whispered.
"We'll get some food in you soon," she whispered to him, tears forming in her eyes. She pursed her lips, and started bawling as Clint passed out in her lap.
"We're gonna die out here, aren't we Theo?"
I shook my head. "No, no, I will not let that...that happen..." I mumbled, my voice slurring. "I have Sarah...and Alphonse...and I have you, Maes. I'm not...I'm not gonna...gonna lose you..." I mumbled. My vision turned red, likefireworks behind my eyelids. The last thing I remembered was shouting, and blacking out.
***
I woke up with my face shoved in the dirt, or something like it. Opening my eyes, I saw a damp, cobblestone floor, covered with dirt and and puddles.
"Theo!" I heard someone yelp. Maes. She was sobbing. I looked up and saw her, across from me, and there she was. Her pale eyes were red, and tears were formed around them. Looking around, I saw the same was true for Clint, Sarah, and Kain. I then realized where we were. We'd been taken.
"W-who are they?" I asked. More people were chained to the wall, ones I didn't know.
"Theo..." Sarah whispered. "They're scientists."
"How do you-" But I saw it then.
"Alphonse!" I screamed. But he didn't look up. He was asleep, just like the others.
"He's drugged, Theo. I think we were, too...God, I can't feel my feet..." Sarah whispered. "They've fed us though. I can tell."
I did feel a lot better, though. They had to have fed me, or I'd still be sicker than anything.
"Theo," Maes whispered. "Clint has a fever."
I looked over at the youngest Mustang, and noticed his skin looked pale, and his eyes had dark shadows under them. He was shaking, and was covered in a thin layer of sweat.
"He needs help, Theo..." she whispered.
"Hey!" I screamed, beating on the wall. "Why are we here?! You gonna leave us in here to rot or you wanna talk!? Nows the best time, the drugs are just wearing off! You'll get something useful outta me!"
They seemed to take that as incentive, because they came into the room later. A woman, with two chocolate pig tails, tan skin, and thin glasses came in, and a man with hazel eyes and hair, and a slender frame walked in.
"How dare you!" Maes screamed, pushing against the chains. "I am the daughter of Fuhrer King Mustang and I demand you let me go!"
The man laughed darkly. "Princess, if you think that'll get you anywhere around here, you are really mistaken."
She tightened her jaw. How many times had Travis called his sister that? I shuttered.
"This is all Mustang's fault, you know. Shouldda left those damn Ishvalans to die," he said, walking up to Kain, smirking. Kain took the object of spitting in his eye, and kneeing the man in the crotch. He screamed, and collapsed in pain. The woman came running up, and pressed a knife to his throat.
"Wanna try that again? Trust me, Ishvalan, I'll kill you in a heartbeat," she growled. He sneered down at her, and I could see Sarah was on the verge of screaming at the woman. Kain relaxed his body, and the woman walked back.
"Undo the chains on the Ishvalan. Careful, he's got alchemy," the man spat. I tried to rise from the ground, but couldn't fight. My muscles were too tired from being in that position, and from the drugs.
They left the room, and I noticed all of us were tired. Clint coughed in the corner, and Maes wrapped her arms around him.
"We're gonna die..." she whispered.
"No..." I told her, but it was slurred, and it didn't sound like anything to my ears.
"Hey." I looked over, and one of the scientists were awake. "Who are you kids?"
I smiled. "I'm Theo Elric," I said. She looked from me, to Alphonse.
"You're-"
"Yeah," I said. She nodded.
"I figured his brother would come after him."
I frowned. "So did I...but he wouldn't so my sister and I did. Did they...they all give you drugs at the same time?" I asked.
"I...I think so. They usually do. It's been about....what? Six months?"
"I heard a year."
The woman paled.
I crawled over to Alphonse, and took in the sight of him. His arms were fettered to the wall above his head. He was pale and thin, sick looking. His eyes had shadows under them, and his skin was dirty, and his hair was dusty. It was cut untidily, like it was done by a pair of rusty kitchen shears. His pale, smooth skin was covered in a thin layer of glistening sweat. His pink lips were dry, and his cheeks were wind burnt. He looks so much skinnier than I had seen him last. He was sick. Very sick.
"Alphonse..." I said, leaning on him and shaking his shoulders. He blinked slowly, and looked up at me.
"Ed?" he asked in his voice, which always reminded me of rain and silver.
I shook my head, and sat back on my haunches. "It's Theo, Uncle Alphonse."
Alphonse stared, as if he couldn't remember, but then smiled wide.
"Theo!" he said, beaming at me, but then frowned.
"Why are you here? Where's your father?"
"Dad's in Central or something. Mustang sent us a letter, and we came immediately-"
"You ran away? Whose we?"
"Sarah and I," I said, pointing back to my sister.
"Sarah?" he asked.
"...Uncle Alphonse..." she said, smiling weakly, and looked like she could burst into tears.
Alphonse's eyes scanned over the Kain, Clint, and Maes.
"And the others?" he whispered to me.
"That's Kain, and the other two are Clint and Maes Mustang," I informed.
"Didn't Roy have an older boy too?" he asked. I looked down. Alphonse looked to the others, and saw their expressions. Then he saw the blood on Sarah's shirt and hair.
"Oh, gosh..." he whispered, then looked at Maes and Clint,"I am so sorry..."
Sarah started crying again, and Alphonse looked like he greatly regreted saying anything, upset it had caused the pain he was seeing.
"Why are you here?" Alphonse asked again.
I stared up at him. "Sarah and I had to come get you, Uncle. You are not going to die, like everyone else."
---------------------------------
(SARAH)
Uncle Alphonse frowned. "Really... You didn't need to come here on my account," he said hoarsely. He looked over at Maes and Clint. "And my sincerest apologies for all of the trouble I've caused..."
"It's not your fault," Maes said, shaking her head. "We got into all of this trouble on our own."
Alphonse shook his head. "It seems like I always get people hurt when they try to help me," he mumbled to himself. "I'm so sorry..."
A long silence fell over the room, only broken by Clint's coughing and my sniffling every so often.
Alphonse smiled at me. "You've gotten so big," he said. "You look just like your mother." I could tell he was trying to comfort me. It wasn't exactly working.
"...Thanks," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. "...Uncle Alphonse?"
"Yes?"
"...Nothing... It's nothing," I replied shaking my head. I looked over to Theo. "How are we gonna get out of this...?"
He sighed. "I'm not sure, Sarah. We'll think of something. It'll all be okay."
Maes sat in the corner, hugging Clint and stroking his hair. She looked at Theo, sadness visible in her eyes. I guess we all knew it was hopeless. We were going to die here. We came all this way just to be captured.
I ran my hand over the dried blood on my shirt. Travis Mustang... He was only seventeen... He had so much more of life ahead of him... And he died because of me. He helped us accomplish our goal of finding Alphonse, but I wasn't even able to be happy about finally finding him. I didn't know how to feel. I know Travis would want me to be happy, but I couldn't stop blaming myself for his death. And...he wouldn't want me blaming myself either... He also wouldn't want me to just give up. But I didn't know what to do. "I...I don't know..." I whispered to myself.
Alphonse looked at Theo and I. "I think... I might know how we could get out of here," he said, trying to stand. Theo helped him up and Uncle went over to the door. Alphonse took a deep breath and clapped his hands together, then touched them to the door. In a flash of blue electricity, a large hole appeared in the door. He smiled.
Theo's eyes widened. "Was that alchemy? Don't you have to have a transmutation circle?"
"I can explain later," Alphonse stated. "When we get back to Resembool."
------------------------------------------
(THEO)
I smiled. I missed Alphonse, and it was hard to keep the euphoric smile off my face as he pulled such an amazing stunt, and I didn't care whether or not he used a transmutation circle as long as we got out of here.
Kain was waking the other 3 scientists, telling them to be very quiet.
"Theo," Maes whispered. I went over to her.
"Clint's too tired," she whispered, her eyes filled with tears. Clint looked dead tired, and sick as a dog. He looked emaciated, and much too pale. His blonde hair was sticking to his forehead with the thin layer of sweat covering his body. "He can't stand up, he can barely stay conscious."
I helped Maes stand, she was so tired and weak looking. I took up Clint's body and wrapped his arms around my neck.
"I can't loose him too, Theo," she whispered. I planted a kiss in her hair.
"You won't," I said firmly.
"Theo," Alphonse called. I nodded at him, following through the hole behind him, and Maes behind me. Alphonse clapped, and closed the hole.
The sight of Alphonse alone, though he too looked sick and hungry, made my morale boost. I had the energy to keep going. We might not die here. I may be able to bring them home. Sarah in Mom's arms again, Alphonse being able to beam at his so-beloved older brother. Maes and I...I didn't know what would happen if we survived, but I knew I didn't want to be separated from this girl.
"We're on the lowest level," Alphonse said, running, panting, and tripping over his own feet up another flight of stairs. "We need to get to the ground level..." he panted.
All I could think was that we were going to make it and live, and smile as I felt sun shining through windows in a hot hallway.
"Sun..." Maes whispered.
We did it...
Of course, as always, that's when all hell broke loose.
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