“Damn,” blurted Mandilyn checking the few pockets she had. “I think I left my scythe inside.”

“It’s cool. I never really thought it suited you anyway.” Arslan admitted. He turned back to look at the drake-girl; she was wrapped in a blanket that was ‘graciously’ given to them by a nice family that had left it outside to dry. There was a completely blank and soulless look in her face and eyes. It sent a shiver down Arslan’s spine. “This guy owes me quite a few favors.”

The trio approached a large tower furnace with four openings, each on one side of the square structure, open tables with were set up diagonally underneath several tarps. Passing that they came to an actual building, it had two floors and green shingles.

Mandilyn pointed at the sun that just started to rise and asked, “Do you think he’ll be awake?”

Arslan smirked, “I know he’s awake.” Arslan banged on the door. “Edward! Get your ass down here!”

It wasn’t long at all before a shirtless man answered the door. His skin was tanned, and his body was covered in various sized burns and scars. There were bags underneath his eyes, and his black hair was a mess, out of anger he yelled, “What do you want!” before noticing the hooded alchemist. “Oh. Arslan, it's you.” he peered behind Arslan and noticed the two girls, the dirty, bruised and bloodied rabbit-girl and sedated drake-girl. He walked inside and left the door open and sighed, “Come in.”

“Told you he’d be awake,” Arslan said smugly opening the door more for the two girls to enter.

“I don’t think it works that way?” Mandilyn said walking in the establishment.

Arslan watched as a fly landed on the face of the drake girl; her only reaction was a slow, inert blink. He squinted, “Right.” he pointed inside. “Go inside,” he commanded. The girl finally moved on towards the door.

The trio sat at a table in the home’s kitchen, the smell of freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air. Edward sipped from a cup while leaning on one of the counters. “That’s quite an eventful couple of days,” Edward said in a tired, monotone voice.

“How ‘bout you Edward? How’ve you been these last couple of years?” Arslan inquired.

Edward smiled, his dimples becoming evident as he recalled, “You remember Leila?” Arslan nodded. “She had our daughter a few years ago, absolutely the greatest moment of my life.”

Arslan leaned forward and asked, “Oh yeah, what’d you two name her?”

“Nina!” He shouted with pride, “we just got her a Lil’ pup; she absolutely loves that thing. We hardly can keep the two separate.” Edward finished the rest of his brew and placed the mug on the counter. “So, why are you here all of a sudden?”

“Right!” Arslan remembered, “You probably remember me ranting about transmutation a lot, right?” Edward nodded. “Edward, this is Mandilyn, Mandilyn, Edward.”

Edward’s face scrunched up. “I don’t understand. What I see is some girl. However, the one over there is definitely something.”

Mandilyn shouted, “Hey! I’m not just some girl!” she pulled the hood from over her ears, two white rabbit ears sprung from the top of her head and slightly drooped.

Edward chuckled, “I stand corrected. You are something lil’ miss. So,” he pointed to the drake-girl, “what’s up with her?”

She only returned an abyss staring look.

“Had to put a heavy obedience spell on her, she’s kinda dangerous,” answered Arslan.

“Ah! So that’s why you came to my door looking like you were caught in an explosion.”

“That happened too!” Mandilyn interjected.

Edward brows furrowed in disbelief, “Anyway, so, what do you need?”

“A few things, really.” Arslan started. As you can see, she needs some clothes,” he said while pointing his thumb towards the wrapped drake-girl. Edward crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. “The next thing, do you have any polearms?”

“Do I!?” effused Edward. “I’ll show you what I have... at a discount.”

“That's fair, I guess.”

“Is that all?” Edward questioned.

Arslan put a hand to his face and thought for a second before asking, “Do you have any paper?”

“Yeah?”

“Could I possibly use a few sheets?”

“Sure?” Edward questionably agreed and opened a random drawer to hand him a book filled with blank pages. “So, that's all you need?” Arslan nodded. “Alright, follow me to the shop.”

Mandilyn got up from the chair and looked at Arslan who hadn’t moved. “Aren’t you coming?”

Arslan waved his hand and smiled, “This is your weapon; choose what you like.”

A wave of unease hit the rabbit-girl who hadn’t been separated from Arslan since she was brought into life. She stammered, “I-I guess you’re right.”

“C’mon, I’ve got quite a bit that you might like!” smiled Edward, motioning her towards an open door.

Arslan’s smiled faded, and exasperation was heard in his voice. “What am I going to do with you?” He placed the book on the table with a pen in hand.

Several swords lined the wall of the shop; each one varied in size and functionality. Several racks contained various polearms as well, from pikes to halberds. Mandilyn’s head began to spin the more she looked around, she had so many choices, the feeling she felt was overwhelming.

“Pick anything you like!” Edward yelled, his voice echoing around the room.

But that was the problem; she couldn’t choose. But compared to her scythe each one of these was subpar. She sauntered over to the rack and began rifling through them.

“Damn, I still can’t believe that madman actually did it,” Edward said in amazement. “Are you actually something he made?”

Mandilyn out of excitement shouted, “I am!”

Edward smirked, “Never in my lifetime did I ever think he’d succeed.”

“Well, it happened,” she replied picking up a pike nearly twice her size.

“He and I used to go adventuring, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“I picked up a thing or two in my day. Want to know the secret of choosing the weapon for you?”

Mandilyn’s ears perked up, and she turned around after re-racking a spear.

Edward chuckled, “I see that got your attention.” He moved over towards the rack picking a spear. “How’s this feel?” he asked dropping it into her arms. “Being comfortable with your weapon means you can think more efficiently.”

She grumbled, “Arslan is always saying something like that.” She spun the spear. When the blade reached the lowest point gravity took over giving the blade a slightly accelerated turn. “It’s a bit heavy.”

“Hm. I see.” He pulled down a glaive; it was a foot taller than Mandilyn was. The shaft was black with the blade coming down to be a quarter of the overall length.

Mandilyn’s eyes lit up. The weapon had a perfect balance between the two ends; the hilt had contained a counterweight to equal out the blade’s size. She stammered her words, “Th-this is perfect.”

He smirked, “Would you like to try it out?”

There was a glint in her eyes.