The Mercury Alchemist

Chapter 20 ~ Surprises on every Corner

'I was always told people are given second chance for a reason...

Most times I don't believe in second chances...

but just seeing her again...it's like seeing a ghost...'

Chapter 20 ~ Surprises on every Corner

-?-

"Excellent work! It's surprising how you could make such a fine automail part after being taught in a matter of days!" Granny Pinako praises me after I finally finish my final piece. "She's even better than me when I first started out! Are you sure you've never built an automail before?" Winry asks me in wonder. "N-No! This is actually my first time trying to make automail at all... I've always messed with other metal works but..." I grabbed a nearby object and used it to hide my face as a large blush starts to form. Winry pats my back and praises me, "Don't worry! If you keep this up you might end up a professional mechanic like Granny and I!" I grab the nearest object and used it to hide my face so they wouldn't see the blush appearing on my face. "I'll be down stairs taking a smoke. You both better finish the rest while I'm gone," she tells us as she walks out the door with Den by her side like usual. Winry sighs and plops herself in her seat, "All of this work is starting to tire me out... I feel like Granny is trying to run me dry until all I can see is metal in my eyes.

I chuckled at her reaction and ask, "Isn't it you love automail to death?" I think I accidentally triggered something inside to her suddenly explode right in front of my face, again. "Automail is my life! The grease, the smell, the new parts that these hands give birth too! Eeee! Just thinking about it makes me hope another poor soul will come by and ask for my wonderful works!" she squeals happily, a pinkish gleeful aura surrounding her as she hugs her favorite wrench. I sweat drop thinking, 'I feel bad for the poor soul that grew up with her all his life...' "Gah! Den get off me! Stop slobbering my face off already!" we hear a cry from outside the house. "Girls! We have guests of honor visiting us!" Granny Pinako calls out not long after laughter erupted outside. I stood up immediately, dropping everything I had in my hands to the ground much to Winry's surprise. I was nervous now. 'She's here... She's really here!' my thought panic.

++Earlier that day++

-Me-

I wobbly walk towards the Rockbells residence, my face drained of energy and my eyelids trying to stay open. I stayed up almost the entire night after trying to figure out the message behind each page I was reading, in the end I found nothing except crap about the possibility of parallel worlds and not to mention the fact that the only new thing I found out was an amplifier called the Philosopher's catalyst. Well that's how I understood it at least. "Wow and here I thought you couldn't look any worse after getting up," that earned Ed a huge punch in the gut. I am not in the mood for this shit! "You better not have been reading that book the entire night. I might have to confiscate that book until we get your automail," Armstrong says sternly out of concern of me not sleeping. I yawn before answering, "It was just 300 pages...! No big deal!" In reality I was tired as heck; I can't see straight, my legs are wobbly at every step I make, my automail feels as heavy as a giant fat guy (a soldier actually. True story), and my body feels like jelly.

"I think it's about time you get your rest Cat. I saw you last night, you can't hide it from us," Al tells me, just as worried as the other two. I wave it off with a small smile on my face, "I'm fine! It was only one time guys! Besides if I tried to sleep my neck would hurt like hell right now!" I pointed out the bandage that was still wrapped around my neck, though under it the wound was long gone and the small hole that was drilled into the skin had completely healed. The day I had gotten in the hospital I was no longer bleeding and the pain in my neck seemed to have vanished, like as if it never happened to begin with. 'I think now I'm afraid about my body now... it was cool at first when it came to small cuts a bruises... but that? I had to pull out the needle by myself and my neck was aching for hours! Not to mention the fast recovery after confronting Scar. And that black blood,' I shuddered at the remembrance of the first time I saw it, 'it's not normal... nothing about me is considered normal anymore... Here, I am but if I was also like this back at home... I'm still abnormal no matter how I look at it!"