Ed froze in place,not daring to take a look. Up until the boy grabbed his clothes,he never sensed his energy. Even now while he stood behind him, there was no energy coming from him. Either way,it was a risky move to blindly look behind him
"Are you afraid..."the person spoke up, Carrying an ordinary child's voice. Someone could mistake him for a lost child
"Um...who are you?"pressure slammed against Ed's lungs and the cold peirced his skin more. Despite that,he felt this was something more deadly than the cold itself
"Yo ..my name's Ed"
"Follow me,child of angelo" the boy turned and walked away, gaining distance from ed. Ed's legs threatened to break but he pushed further, hoping for a way to survive.
They got to the entrance of a dense forest,painted white by the snow. Ed decided to check the mysterious boy before him. Pale skin,jade green hair and blue eyes. Although his statue was smaller than normal kids,his energy was unknown piquing Ed's interest.
While they walked into the forest,the cold temperature dropped although not by much,it was enough to help Ed survive even if barely. They approached a camp later where snow had covered. The atmosphere was thick,like a breeding ground for beasts
The boy didn't say a word but approached the camp. When he got close enough,he bent down and cleared the snow with his bare hands. While Ed watched in silence,he quietly dug, looking for what would have seemed to be an entrance. The snow continued to fall. Although not as much as the blizzard outside,it was high enough to cover the tracks they came through in a short time
By the time Ed turned his attention to the boy again,he had successfully dug the area,wide enough for a person to go through. Looking closely,ed noticed a hole, one that could possibly lead to an underground cave
"Let's go in..." The boy called Ed's attention while already going through the hole. Ed let out a dry laugh, trying to lighten the mood. He couldn't grasp why he had to blindly follow him to an underground cave where unknown dangers may lay ahead
"Why should I?"
"Follow me,if you wanna live"
Ed hesitated, but the words hit him. He wasn't sure there was danger up ahead, but staying in this cold might be the end of him. Although they didn't run into monsters on the way, there was no doubt that this hidden realm holds incredible beasts that would test his strength.
"... still,why should I trust you...?" Ed spoke up, despite standing his guard. He might not be able to escape danger if he enters the cave so he had to be cautious
"...ah" the boy sighed, while carrying himself out of the hole. His expression was the same look you would give a dog refusing to eat meat. When he turned to ed,an incredible amount of pressure brought him to his knees instantly, without giving him time to react
Ed reached for his blades with his already stiff hands,numb from the cold but the pressure made it hard to make a solid attack
Shit! What was I thinking following him up to this point...
Ed fell to his knees while the boy approached him, pressure increasing with each step. When he got in front of ed, he could no longer move any part of his body. Sealing his fate,ed closes his eyes when a sharp pain struck his cheek.
***
Back at the academy, the third test which was to determine the leaders for the subjugation had already concluded, with bellitch Alex stealing the spotlight. She didn't look happy though,as Ed suddenly failed the test, ruining his name in the process.
While they prepared to leave, the student council president walked up to bellitch to ask
"Hey bell..." She smiled slightly, somewhat between sarcasm and reality while standing in front of the teachers office. Bellitch had gone to finalize her form before departing for the impure gate dungeon and ran into her, filing some old documents for a student
"Lady Julia" bellitch bowed, staring at the floors while the student council president walked into the office. After a minute, she walked out carrying an envelope with her. "How ...can I help you?"
"Where's... nevermind" she turns and leaves, while bellitch's head remained bowed until she was she had left the hall. Alex sighed shortly after before turning back to her dorm room
The night before the subjugation was stressful,with people training or preparing whatever they might need to head to France. Sally didn't join, so she stayed back at Ed's room, tidying up the environment for his return.
While her action wouldn't faze him, she felt the need to do it.
"Idiot big-bro... leaving without a word. He hasn't even realized that I'm his actual sister..." Her cheek puffed, laying her complaints into thin air. She left the room shortly after, carrying a book she had borrowed from the library
'the jewel of darkness: blood alchemy'
The first word that came to mind after reading the name
Scary...
Despite her normal poker face, she was not a fan of scary stuffs, leading her to live a quiet life to try and overcome it. While her breathing became shallow she pushed on for a significant reason
She removed her gloves from her right hand, revealing a tattoo on her hand which didn't disappear no matter how many times she tried
"Things are gonna get ugly..."