Fishy business

Nemo stepped out of the store and muttered about that cheap dealer who paid way too little for her beautiful pearls. But she couldn't do anything about it, because the dealer was the only one who bought pearls in this little village. Nemo just accepted her faith and though what seasonings she should buy. And where from. That last part was important for her, because she wanted to plan her way to the seller to be as quick and disguised as possible. The weather was very dry and Nemo just wanted to get back to her little house.
After choosing her way Nemo walked through some little alleys, just to keep a little gap to the people walking on the streets. Alleys are usually much more deserted. She didn't feel very well and the sun was shining even brighter every second.
Nemo turned left when she noticed that someone was walking behind her. "That's weird, usually there's no one in here except me. Maybe he lives here", Nemo though as she started walking just a little bit faster. She turned left and that man followed her. She turned right and he was still there behind her.
"Okay, calm down. Maybe he's walking to the same dealer that I am. There's no reason for him to follow me", Nemo tried to calm herself, but the panic was just behind the corner. She turned left and noticed that she had walked to a dead-end. As she turned around the she saw the man again. He had a gun.
"Gimme all your money bitch! This is a robbery!"

"Yes, Mr. Lennon, I-I'd f-fancy a s-s-spot more t-tea, yes, th-tha-THANK YOU. A-and you, M-ms. Monroe? N-no? Ahhh... Well... M-more tea f-f-FOR M-M-meee, th-then." As he sat on a bench, speaking idly to the air and the grass, people walked by swiftly, if at all, most taking a far longer walk than needed to avoid contact.

"Lunatic..."

"Psycho!"

"Why're you talking to yourself, mate? Keep it down, ya whackjob!"

"Mommy, can I poke him? Why nooooot, he's just sitting there, it's so weird!"

He noticed none of the voices, but the ones dancing in his head. My, they were splendid dancers, too. Oh, and the voices outside his head; John lennon and Marilyn Monroe. He poured tea for them, but there were no tea cups, as far as an onlooker could see, nor was there tea; cheese fondue? Odd. He poured it from his own teacup, which seemed to pour continuously. Also odd. More-so odd, however, is that for one, both persons present had died decades ago, and neither were there in spirit, nor physically. Yet Jack Maximilian, called Animos by the men in white coats, years ago, spoke casually to them, enjoying his pleasant tea party.

Well, he tried to enjoy it. But the footsteps from a sidewalk nearby were maddening. Closer to him, they didn't bother him as badly, but further away, they were such a burden; raindrops pittering and pattering away on the bricks of buildings. He had to move closer to keep the sound from killing him. It was the same sound as the clinking and clanking of the little ink spot pictures on cardboard sheets, as they were set down again, the same steady thumping as the man in the room next to him running into walls until he was restrained, but Anim didn't mind it, no, really, the man was just getting in some exercise, it was nice. Nobody ever let them get exercise, so it was nice the man had the opportunity to do it. It wasn't necessary for the white-suited men to stab him with their steely knives, though, until he fell down and stopped running into walls, Anim knew they did that because he'd left his room then, they'd accidentally left his door open. But as he watched them stab the man with steely knives, they came after him, so he ran down the hall, but there was this awful shocking in his arm, and he didn't mind that either, but soon the intense pain had made him sleepy, so sleepy, and he just had to fall asleep, he was so very tired. And they even stabbed him with the steely knives to help him sleep better. How nice of them.

But now he didn't hear the soft shk of the steely knives making his insides feel fuzzy and his eyelids droopy, nor did he hear the wizzt and the whiiirr of the shocking thing. No, he heard footsteps, and they were even louder now, but he saw why; a girl was walking down a sidewalk witha nice man trailing along behind her. Her brother perhaps. Maybe her father? He should go say hello. That'd be nice of him, yes. So nice... So he trailed behind him as he trailed behind her, into an alley, where the man surprised the woman, not with a nice surprise like a hug, but by calling her a rude term, and asking for her money. Well, that's just not polite; one shouldn't demand their daughter give them any money, especially not at gunpoint, he should work for his living like everyone else. Anim drew his kukri, displeased at this sight. "D-don't take her m-m-MONEY, youmeanmaaaan!" Delivering a harsh strike with the kukri, he chopped off the man's thumb, causing him to drop the gun and scream, before running away, desperately trying not to cry as he held his thumb to the soon-to-be-nub on his hand. Then, as is the way of Anim, he interrupted whatever the girl may have been saying, if she was saying anything at all, and merely looked at her curiously, sheathing the knife again, before speaking, as always, in that stuttering and cracked voice of his. "Y-you wouldn't ha-happen to HAAAA-AAAaaave any c-candy, would you? W-would you? Or w-woudn't you...? Hello?"

Michael wasn't sure whether to be surprised pleasantly or be disappointed. The weather was sunny, albeit a bit cold. And while sunny weather isn't usually something to be complained about, Michael had just returned from a relatively sunny and warm country. He was excepting some familiar rain. "Maybe back in London, perhaps?". He adjusted his hood a bit as he remained on his course towards his temporary residence.

That was his initial plan.

As he was strolling down the street, something moved on the corner of his left eye. Michael stopped and rotated his head a little to see what it was. A woman, walking in relatively fast pace. Nothing too interesting. As this was noted, Michael was about to continue moving, but then another person walked in the same alley, to the same direction and about just as swiftly.

This was the point when Michael started to suspect that something suspicious was happening. His whole body turned towards the alley, which would lead towards the 3-way junction that these alleys formed. A loud yell, obviously from the following man, caused Michael to pick up his pace. He did not, however, start running. The man was most likely armed. This combined with the fact that people tend to be a bit on the edge in situations like these. He probably wouldn't do anything too reckless if he wasn't provoked...

...which was why it was rather unfortunate that yet another trailer, who had stopped behind the corner, rushed towards the scene of robbery. With a weapon. "Damn fool". Michael had to rush himself now. It only made him reach that already close junction only slightly faster, which wasn't enough in this case.

Michael reached the junction just in time to see conclusion of this event. The blade wielding man had cut off the robber's finger in one clean swipe. Some of the released blood left some marks on the gray wall of the alleyway. It also resulted in an disarming of the robber's gun, for reasons that are rather obvious. "A lucky fool". Michael felt a slight push as the robber ran past him. He would enter the streets and most likely cause attention. It was even very likely that he would get into hospital in time for his thumb's re-attachment. He would be fine.

After recovering from the slight surprise, a process that could be seen from his changed expressions, he focused on the bigger problem. The man who had just stopped the robbery had just opened his mouth. Everything he had said was either out of context or just didn't make sense in general. This wasn't helping the situation where the girl was in. Michael approached those two. "I'm not sure about her, but I have one chocolate bar with me, still untouched. You can have it if you want". Next he turned towards the girl. "Is everything alright? Both mentally and physically".

//The color I usually use for Cretan is temporarily changed due to similar color in the same topic//

Nemo just stood there and the panic was growing more and more in some deep corner of her brains. It was just about to take her over when something very extraordinary happened. Well, maybe extraordinary is too lame of a word to illustrate the chain of events she witnessed.
After the man shout his threats there was this other man who jumped right to the scene. That second man yelled something to the robber and after that he cut of his thumb! Nemo couldn't believe her eyes and she was terrified. What if this new "protector" of hers, would be even more dangerous. And just as she thought that, he asked for candy! with startled look on her face she just looked him. It's like her brains had just refused to handle this situation and left the scene. There she was, just staring the man with her mouth open, when the situation got even weirder.
Third man came to the scene. Thank God he didn't look so dangerous than the other one. At least he wasn't cutting fingers. This newest man asked if she was okay. "Yes, just a little bit dizzy" was the sentence she was about to say but instead her mouth let out gasp. And another. And another. This whole situation was so stressing that her lungs decided to just follow the brain and leave her gasping her breath like fish on dry land. OH NO! NOT NOW! This is very serious. I need to get water, I don't want to suffocate! But she had dropped her water bottle somewhere, and it would only be temporary help. She took one step towards those two men, who stood there and and whispered: "..Water.."

After that she fell down and just hoped that those two would be helpful in this situation. After that, it was just blurry blur in her eyes.

Something was wrong.

Michael made a quick rush towards the girl as she started to have issues with breathing. "..Water.." was all that she could whisper before she lost her balance, causing her to collapse. Michael, being right in front of her, caught her. "Dryness of mouth, dizziness and difficulties to breath. Panic attack?" This was his first guess and he proceeded to act accordingly. "It's okay. Just calm your breath. There's nothing to worry about". Michael wasn't able to make his voice sound all too soothing, but it would have to suffice. Shortly after those words, Michael started to find a position where he could check the girl's wrists all while holding her up. There was a chance that it wasn't a panic attack, so checking if she had a medical identification tag was the second st---

Michael's eyes conveyed his surprise as he saw the girl's bare wrist. It wasn't normal skin nor was it an automail. Her hand was covered in scales. They looked almost like scales of a fish...

Michael moved his hand quickly from her wrist towards her neck. Her black velvet collar was slid aside to show her neck.

Gills.

Michael slid the collar back as swiftly as it had been slid aside. He wasn't going to question why this girl had gills or how she got them in the first place. It was more important to get her some place with water. "What stores did I walk past by? There was a café, convenience store, pharmacy... PET STORE!" Having formed a plan of some sort, Michael positioned the girl across his own shoulders and ran away from the alleyway, without even glancing at the odd man.

The people on the main street were still baffled by a sight of a screaming man holding his hand would now see a scarred young man running from the same direction, with a girl on his shoulders. Many of them just watched with varying amounts of walking. Some were calm enough to call an emergency number.

It took less than 30 seconds to reach the store. Michael pushed a few customers away with his body as he entered it. Aquariums were to his right. After making a small stop to notice this fact, he made a small turn and continued to rush ahead. Michael started to hear another pair of running footsteps, which belonged to a clerk. That was merely a minor problem and be dealt with after the girl could breathe again.

Michael's movement came to a halt as he reached the glass cages full of water and colorful fishes. Left hand released its hold of the girl to deliver a swift blow into the glass. Success. At the same time, the right hand would still be holding the girl and would move her quickly under the spot where the left hand had hit. Results would be quite amount of water released right at her, along with some of the fishes as well. There was a risk that the glass would cause some harm to her, but it was a small price from this possibly lifesaving action.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Voice of the clerk was clear, loud and incredibly angry. He grabbed Michael's shoulder and turned him to see him face to face. "I don't have a problem. If anything, I think I just solved one." "The fuck are you talking about?! Are you high?! Breaking that will cost you!" ...his voice was too loud. It hurt Michael's ears every time he said something.

Maybe there had been a better option after all...

Nemo was sinking deeper and deeper into the sweet and calming coma. Lights, some sort of sparkling stars, were surrounding her and all around her there was smooth shapes of the world, she just collapsed in. Though there was a great disturbance of something important she should be doing, everything was fine, because she just couldn't remember what that thing was. And just as she was flowing lightly in blue nothingness, there was a voice. And after that she felt pain. Those sparking lights around her started to grow. They grew and grew until the light was too bright and the pain... It grew along with the light.

She coughed and opened her eyes. Those lights had turned into a cold fluorescent lamps, which were implanted to the ceiling. So, no stars.. But the pain was still there. She moved her head to look what was the cause of it: big wound in her hand. But Nemo was startled by something else. There was no gloves in her hands! She was just vulnerable little monster lying on the floor, with her true form naked for everyone to see. "What the hell is your problem?!" someone yelled at her. Smothered wail leaved Nemo's lips as she stood up. But the man wasn't yelling at Nemo, but to the man she had seen before she lost her consciousness. After a quick reasoning, outcome was this: that man had saved her life and someone was angry at him because of it... OR, he just though that he could sell this weird fish-girl to the pet-shop, and they were arguing, because they disagree of the price. But the first alternative seemed more true. Or at least it sounded better.

Nemo pulled her sleeve to cover her injured and scaly hand and walked (with a bit uncertain steps) to the clerk and offered to pay the aquarium. It was her fault after all, and she had money with her. She did sell a lot of pearls this morning after all. She even said, that she slipped and hit the aquarium and that this man was just trying to help her. "It was just a big misunderstanding, I hope you'll understand", Nemo said and made a little smile. She was going for a big ear-to-ear smile, but she was in pain and losing blood, at least according to her bloody sleeve. The salesman was nothing but confirmed, but he was happy for the money, because Nemo offered to pay for the water-damage and lost fish as well.

"So, what just happened?" Nemo asked quietly after she and the mysterious man stepped out of the store, to a street, which had quiet down. Sun wasn't as bright as it was earlier and it was a bit cooler too. She just wanted to get home. And the wound was aching..

Feeling of surprise replaced Michael's current feeling of annoyance (with self-doubt as a side dish) as Nemo came to solve this unpleasant situation. She had just woken up in a strange environment, lying in a pool of water and fish, yet she acted so calm and nice. Not to mention sacrificing, considering how much money she was willing to offer for inconveniences that someone else had caused. By the modern day standards... no, probably by any standards, this was an admirable feat.

"So, what just happened?" asked the girl as she and Michael stepped out of the store. Michael couldn't help but to notice that small parts of her sleeve had received a new, red color. "But considering how her skin is, she's probably reluctant to go to hospital". That didn't leave much choice. Michael sighed as he started to remove glove on his right hand. "Well... you passed out, I noticed your... condition and then I brought you to water". The glove was now fully removed, revealing a hand made out of black-painted metal. Michael raised the palm to reveal a purification circle, while his right hand grabbed her injured hand. "Now hold still". Doing his best to keep her hand hidden from others, he pressed the cold metal of automail against the wound.

There was a flash of blue energy, which resembled an electrical discharge. Some people turned their heads for a bit, but started walking soon afterwards. After all, alchemy wasn't that uncommon anymore these days. The flash stopped as suddenly as it had started. Michael made sure to pull the sleeve back over the girl's hand when his hands were removed. "Bleeding has stopped. The wound should disappear in a week or so". Deciding that he didn't want to continue showing off his unnatural hand, Michael put glove back on.

"I can deal with mysteries with no solution. But if I have the chance to pull the curtains that hide the light away to reveal it, I'll gladly make use of that chance".Michael's face didn't seem as stern as a moment ago. When a situation would arise where new information was available, Michael's face would always lit up. At this situation, his expression looked very content, if not happy. He was excited enough to ignore any possible confusion from the other end of conversation. "How about this? I'll escort you to your house and you let me ask a few questions". He then remembered to add: "For my own private use, of course. So whatever you decide to tell, it'll be safe with me".

All of a sudden the man started to remove his glove. "That's weird, what is he doing? OH MY GOD his hand is metal! That symbol.. HE'S AN ALCHEMIST aaaaand he grabbed my hand." The man told her to hold her hand still, "Hold still? Hold still?!" was her first (and angry) thought before the light flashed. She looked at her hand waiting it to be something even more abnormal than it already were, because her experiences with alchemist had not been good at all. But there was no bleeding anymore but she was still feeling dizzy (if not dizzier than before).

Thoughts rushed through her head back and forth. She was accompanied by an alchemist. Even the word made her feel a little sick. Even though he clearly was an.. alchemist, he had saved her life. And healed her hand (even though he was the one responsible of the wound, but Nemo thought that it wasn't the most important thing at the moment). She couldn't decide whether to like him or hate him, there was just too much information for her tiny mind to handle at the moment. All these thoughts were taking place in a seconds and they were cut of by the man who had caused them in the first place.

He spoke about solving mysteries or something like that. And he smiled. But it wasn't an dark smile Nemo was expecting but some sort of smile which was barely there. Even so, it was an genuinely happy smile and made Nemo to feel a bit more relaxed. Maybe he wasn't that evil.
He wanted to ask some questions. For his own use. Hearing that made her a bit scared, but she thought she was in dept because of the healed hand and stuff. And she wanted to trust this man, even if he was an... alchemist. He already knew what she was anyway.
So she decided to step out of her comfort zone and said to him
"I guess I owe you for saving my life, so maybe I can share some information with you. What is it you want to know mister... You haven't told me your name and I haven't introduced myself either. My name is Nemo, and your name is..?