FMA One-Shots

red water sickness

mmmm red water sickness angst my beloved.

i love fletcher (he was so sweet shshdbdhs) and the whole red water thing, i wish the show implemented it more :pensive:

information: FMA03, this one is not really finished, but eh :shrug: i don't know what else to do with it.

tw//coughing
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Edward stands in front of the weird channel of red water, heavy gas floating around above the ground.

"What is that?" Alphonse asks, his amour body creaking with every subtle movement.

"Redwater; put it under a lot of pressure, it turns into a red stone." Ed briefly explains, chest getting heavy, and with every breath he takes, he feels a little dizzier. His lungs feel compressed.

Al leans down to get a closer look at the stream, "is the red stone like a philosopher stone?"

The other shakes his head, "no, more like a cheap imitation of it." He crosses his arms, "I read a bit about it in central, it was discovered not too long ago by someone named Nash, or something." Al nods at the explanation.

Edward takes a second just standing there, his vision is blacking out slightly and the air just got knocked out of him. He coughs harshly, heaving as he sways. "Brother?" Al asks, concerned.

"I-" Ed coughs, "I can't breathe-" it feels a bit troublesome and pathetic how much he is wheezing. But his lungs feel like they aren't working and he claws at his throat.

"Hey!" A small voice from the distance yells, "over here!" He feels Al's cold hands guide him before darkness takes over.

When Ed regains consciousness, he's staring up at the ceiling. Dark wood and stone, he sees bookshelves reaching up. Head throbbing and human limbs numb, he groans.

Metal creaks and something cold touches him, "brother!" Alphonse yelps.

"Al?" He leans up on his elbows, one hand going up to hold his head as the room spins slowly. There's his brother hovering over him and the other boy, the younger imposter. Edward sits up fully, more aware. "What're you doing here!" Narrowing his eyes, he glares as the young boy shrinks back.

He sniffles, "I'm sorry."

That wasn't expected.

His glare dissipates and he asks, "What?" But before he can continue, his throat tightens and he chokes out a cough. Seeing the panic in the others eyes, he tries to swallow it down. "What are you crying about?" He ignores the strain in his voice.

Guiltily, the boy looks down, fists clenching in his lap.

"Fletcher," Al says, and the state alchemist assumes that is the boy's name. "If you know something, tell us please." Edwas sits back with his regained strength, and looks back at the armour holding his brother's soul. "I have a feeling you don't like what's going on here."

What does that mean? Ed wonders, but he doesn't voice it out loud.

The boy--Fletcher, he corrects--sniffles and blinks back his tears, nodding. "The red water," his voice shakes, "it's toxic to humans. But it's also what's used to make the red stone."

Edward bits his lip, thinking. He did notice a few people down at the village who were sick... was this the cause of that?

But before he can say his concerns, Al beats him to it.

"Is that why all those people are sick? Is that why they're coughing?" Fletcher nods, affirming the accusation. Tears slipped down the young blonde's cheeks before he could stop them, "I'm sorry, 'm so sorry." Frantically, he goes to wipe them away, hanging his head in shame.

Christ. Ed stands up slowly, plainly ignoring the crying kid. He stands fine on his automail leg, but his other, flesh and real one, is a little numb. Breathing in, he tries not to choke. His lungs are tight, and he can only assume it's from inhaling some of the redwaters fumes.

He should get over it soon. Besides, he wasn't exposed for too long.