The doors slid open.
"You sent for me, Master Cyclonis?" asked Ravess as she stepped into the room.
"Indeed," Cyclonis replied.
There was a third figure in the room. They stood hunched over and bandy-legged, hands in pockets, face concealed by a hood, facing away from the master's pedestal. The markswoman didn't know why, but something about them was sending a shiver down her spine.
"Please escort this person to Terra Atmosia," Cyclonis said. "He has been entrusted with an important mission for the benefit of the Cyclonian Empire."
The stranger looked up, and Ravess forced herself not to flinch at the sight of a beady yellow eye that seemed to stare right through her, and the grin that spread wide across the greyish-green face.
A Merb?
"Master?" Ravess proceeded cautiously. "If I may ask, why have I been selected for an escort mission?"
"You are a sniper, are you not?" asked Cyclonis. "I would expect you to know a thing or two about subtlety and discretion. Therefore I must request that you leave your usual entourage where they are. This is one mission for which confidentiality is vital. Is that understood?"
Ravess tried very, very hard not to stare at her new trustee.
"Yes, Master," she said, and saluted. To the stranger she added, "Follow me."
She turned, and the stranger followed her out of the room.
As she walked through the corridors and halls of the citadel, he was never less than two or three steps behind her. She didn't like it. It gave her the feeling that he could jump her at any second.
Did he have any weapons?
No matter. She could overpower him, surely.
"So what is this mission that the Master has entrusted you with?" she asked, trying to make conversation.
He didn't reply.
"If I'm going to be escorting you to Atmosia, the least you could do is tell me your name."
Still no reply.
"Very well then," she said. "I was only inquiring from curiosity. I didn't expect-"
"Your eyes are interesting."
Even his voice was unnerving. It was like the slither of a snake over leaves, just before it pounces on a helpless pugrabbit.
"Excuse me?" she said, trying to mask her discomfort with anger.
"Your eyes," the stranger said. "I've never seen any like that before. So sharp and yellow, like a hawk. No, like an eagle!"
"Well..." It seemed like a compliment, but Ravess couldn't tell. "Thank you, I suppose."
"Can I keep one?"
Okay. That was a step too far.
"Excuse me?!" she exclaimed.
"Your eyes are pretty." Surely this person couldn't be fully mature yet; he sounded like a teenager! "Can I keep one?"
"No," Ravess said sternly. "Certainly not. I don't even know why anybody would ask such a thing."
"Oh," the Merb said, quietly downcast, "okay."
They passed a pair of Talons, who also tried hard not to stare at the odd stranger.
"I like eyes," he said. "I hurt one of mine when I was a Merbling and now it doesn't work proper, so I like seeing pretty eyes like yours, miss. It makes me want them for myself."
'Properly.' Ravess' mind burned with desire to correct the terrible grammar. To do so, she suspected, would only put her on this person's bad side, and she got the sneaking suspicion that to do so would be much, much less than a good idea or anything similar.
"May I at least know the name of my trustee?" she inquired.
"Master says I shouldn't say."
Very well. So it was an anonymous escort mission.
"HA-HA!"
Ravess stopped in her tracks and grimaced in distaste at the sound of the harsh laugh. She felt the stranger bump into her back, as he obviously hadn't been watching where he was going.
"Well, lookie what we got here!" Snipe cackled as he approached. "My badass big sister on a babysitting job!"
"This doesn't concern you, so leave us alone," Ravess said as sternly as possible, but her words went unheeded as the walking mass of muscle leant down, level with the strange Merb.
"How's it goin', little guy?" asked Snipe in an incredibly patronizing voice. "You havin' fun with Auntie Ravess? You gonna go to the candy store to get some-"
He was cut off when the stranger tilted his head up and looked him straight in the eye.
"Your eyes are ugly," the boy commented. "I don't like them."
"W-what do you care?" Snipe stammered, alarmed by how such a short person could stand up to him like this.
"I think you should get rid of them," said the Merb.
Horrified by this latest statement, Snipe looked at Ravess in bafflement.
"Don't ask me, alright?" she said. "I'm just looking to get this job over and done with."
She walked away, with the stranger stalking in her midst.
"Jeez, what a creep," Snipe commented once he was sure they were out of earshot.
When he looked round, he saw a pair of Talons staring at him.
"AND WHAT'RE YOU LOOKING AT?!" he screamed angrily.
"The circle denotes the circulation of power," Ed read from his book, "and is the basis of the transmutation."
He barehanded and effortlessly blocked Aerrow's kick.
"In order to call upon and harness the required power," he continued, jumping as the Sky Knight tried to swipe his legs out from under him, "a structural matrix must be drawn on the circle."
With his arm, and with only two steps backwards, he prevented Aerrow's punches from getting anywhere near his face.
"The movements of the body are also a demonstration of the circulation of power," he said, and grabbed the redhead's arm and pulled him so hard that he stumbled past his tutor. "I guess it's best to experience it first-hand."
Once Aerrow had his bearings, Ed shut his book with a snap and beckoned daringly for him to come forward. So Aerrow charged, his bare feet giving him a much better grip on the surface of the runway than his shoes would have provided, pulling his fist back for a good solid punch.
But as soon as he tried to throw it, Ed stepped aside and caught his arm again, and this time his momentum carried him into an ungraceful flip and he landed heavily on the floor. Circulation of power indeed.
"Ow…" Aerrow groaned.
"Yeah, it's about time we gave that a break," said Ed, and he unceremoniously dropped a small stick of chalk onto the Sky Knight's chest. "You go over that info for a while and I'll see about getting some food. You're gonna need a lot of energy over the next few months."
He walked away in the direction of the open hangar with a cold wind blowing his golden ponytail out dramatically. He didn't glance in Radarr's direction as the blue creature scampered over to Aerrow, who sat up and dusted the chalk off his chest.
"Don't worry," he said, "he'd never rough me up too bad. I've gotten worse from a sleep-deprived Piper!"
He moved onto his knees and drew a circle on the runway with the chalk, the motion somehow producing one that was perfectly round.
"The circle denotes the circulation of power…" he muttered. "I wonder if it would work with any other shape? Like, could there be a transmutation egg or an oval or something? What about some kind of transmutation square?"
Radarr shrugged.
"It was worth mentioning," said Aerrow, and looked back the circle. "And in order to harness the power…"
On his way through the hangar Ed passed Junko, who was doing something to Finn's skimmer with a pair of tweezers.
"Uh…" The blond stared in confusion. "What're you doing?"
"Finn thinks some of his hair might've got caught in a mechanism," Junko explained, and he positioned a magnifying lens over his eye before looking back into the workings of the vehicle. "If I could just…"
He withdrew his hand, holding up a small lock of hair in his tweezers.
"There we go!" he said happily. "I dunno how this got here, but knowing Finn, he wouldn't want me to know."
Ed couldn't avoid smiling, and started walking away.
"Oh, hey," said Junko, catching his attention enough for him to stop. "You sure you should be bashing Aerrow around like that? Wouldn't it be best if you, I dunno, let him hit you? Just once or twice?"
"In alchemy, it's important to train the body as well as the mind," Ed explained. "Once he can get through my blocks, he deserves to land a hit. And if I know him, he'll get there eventually."
He started walking again.
"But wait!" Junko piped up again. "I heard you say you needed to draw circles to transmute, but how come you and Al and Aerrow only needed to put your hands together?"
Ed paused again.
"If you think about it a certain way," he said, "then after you go through the Gate and see the Truth, your body becomes the structural matrix, and you form a circle by pressing your hands together. I guess you could say seeing the Truth makes you like alchemy on legs."
"Huh," Junko said with a smile. "That's cool!"
Ed frowned.
"I-I mean," the Wallop hurried to backtrack, "it's probably not worth the, uh, mutilation and blood loss and near-death experience and all, but…"
To his relief, Ed snorted in laughter.
"No, you're right," he said. "The downsides of going through the Gate of Truth massively outweigh the benefits."
With a grunt of effort, Piper finished tightening the final bolt, closed the hatch and pulled down a speaking tube.
"Okay, Stork!" she shouted into it. "Try it now!"
She stepped back and removed her goggles as the heating array kicked into action, and immediately a massive air of warmth began to wash around the room. It wouldn't be long before it spread through the vents and reached the rest of the ship.
Her job done, she left the engine room and made her way back to the bridge. Already the corridors felt warmer, which she was grateful for. It was only going to get colder over the next few months. Maybe they could spend some time in the south, where the weather wasn't so harsh.
"Feels like it worked," Stork commented happily. "Ah, sweet warmth, how I welcome thee!"
"You could just put on a few more layers of clothing, you know," Piper pointed out.
"True," Stork admitted, "but there's something that's just so nice about being able to stand up here on the bridge, surrounded by warmth and comfort. Besides; when it comes to me, sweaters are extremely appropriately named. And wool gives me a horrible rash."
"Is there actually anything that doesn't give you a rash?" asked Piper.
Stork tapped his chin ponderingly.
"Uh…" he said slowly, "some metals, I think. And leather. And oxygen and most crystals. Those are the only things that come to mind right now. Maybe paper too if it's not too old."
Piper struggled to avoid giggling.
She sat down at the bridge table with the squadron log propped up between its edge and her knees and, using her neatest handwriting, began to transcribe.
Squadron Log 12/22/1915
We are currently en route to Terra Atmosia, as despite the fact that he's only been properly training Aerrow in alchemy for a couple of weeks at most, Edward needs to return to his home. He says that his younger brother's birthday is coming up, so it's perfectly understandable. Who wouldn't want to spend time with their family?
Speaking of which, he seems to have adjusted relatively well to semi-permanent life on the Condor, and it's likely that not having to sleep in the storage closet has something to do with it I'm still not sure how he managed to bring his own money into Atmos, but I'm glad that he did. Things have gotten a lot better now that we can afford more than one or two meals a day. My one concern is how Starling might react when she finds out her room's become unavailable.
Aerrow seems to be improving with every passing day, in more ways than one. He's become far more active since his return from solitude on Amazonia, and he's definitely taking this alchemy training to heart. He still has frequent nightmares and occasionally goes into panic attacks if he hears thunder, but it's a far cry from what he was when he first returned to Atmos after… the incident.
Everybody else has devoted themselves to moving forward as well. Stork's using the extra money we have to buy new parts for the Condor, like the heater I finished installing earlier. Junko has currently preoccupied himself with working on our rides to make them run smoother and faster, Radarr helps out whenever hands smaller than mine are needed…
The only exception I can think of is Finn. I'd really expected him to have gotten over his belligerence towards Ed by now, but it only seems to have gotten worse since the guy started living with us. He shoots death glares at him every time they're in a room together and quite often looks for excuses for fights or arguments. Knowing Finn, it's just a cover for something else. I wish he'd realise that he could talk to us about things rather than bottling it all up inside.
I can't escape the feeling that unless something is done about him soon, he's going to do something reckless.
She paused, as a thought occurred to her.
"Stork, do you know where Finn is?" she asked.
"In his room," said Stork. "Slacking off from his chores again."
Piper rolled her eyes. Having given the ink time to dry, she closed the book with a loud thump, slammed it down on the table hard enough to make Stork jump several inches to one side, and stormed off down the corridor.
"…where it tips, there's a point where it breaks, there's a point where it bends and a point we just can't take anymore…"
The song was cool, sure, and it was definitely blaring in Finn's ears loud enough to drown out everything else, but it still wasn't doing a very good job of distracting him.
"…there's a line that we'll cross and there's no return, there's a time and a place, no bridges left to burn anymore…"
He couldn't stop thinking about how much things had changed since Ed had come on the scene. Not just recently, but ever since the annoying bastard had first shown his face.
"…we can't just wait with lives at stake until they think we're ready…"
Finn had known he was going to be trouble from the first moment he saw him, with his shifty eyes and dark clothes and constantly angry face. If he hadn't showed up, who knew how much of their lives would be different?
"…our enemies are gathering, the storm is growing deadly…"
Aerrow would still have two arms, for one thing. They would never have had their universe almost destroyed for another, and never would have found out about alchemy or Philosopher's Stones or transmutation circles or any of those great huge piles of crap.
"…now it's time to say goodbye to the things we loved and the innocence of youth…"
And even if all of that wasn't true, the Storm Hawks already had one kickass blond fighter that they knew and loved and they sure as hell did not need another one. Much less one as irritating and obnoxious and egotistical as Ed.
"…how the time seemed to fly from our carefree lives and the solitude and peace we always knew-"
"FINN!"
He was jolted out of his bitter stupor by a deafening yell from the doorway, and hurriedly paused his music.
"What?!" he demanded as he pulled his headphones off.
"Did you finish all of the sweeping?" asked Piper. "What about cleaning the floor in the bathroom?"
"I've done it, I've done it!" Finn insisted as he sat up. "I did them both already! And what are you, a slave driver?"
"You're the one who's lying around doing nothing, Finn," Piper pointed out. "I've just finished installing the new heating array, Junko's working on our rides, Stork's keeping us on track for Terra Atmosia and Aerrow's training with Ed. After lunch, I want you to come and help me wash the windscreen, alright?"
"Okay!" Finn threw his music player and headphones down on the bed and jumped up, and immediately collapsed from dizziness caused by the rush of blood to his head.
"And that is why you shouldn't spend so long lazing around," Piper said smugly.
"Okay, Mom," Finn said sarcastically, and pressed up his body on his hands. "You want me to go play outside?"
"No, I want you to help me in the kitchen right now," said Piper. "Since Ed's gonna be leaving us for a while, we want to show him what he'll be missing out on while he's away, don't we?"
"Yeah," Finn said flatly as he stood up (slowly this time). "'Coz we really want him to come back."
Arguing with him would be useless, so Piper settled for an exasperated roll of the eyes.
There was just going to be no changing him, was there?
The stranger stepped off the vehicle, immediately returned to his state of slouching.
"I have no idea what you have been assigned," said Ravess, "nor do I particularly wish to know. However, if it is truly for the benefit of Cyclonia, then I wish you luck."
The stranger grinned in response, and Ravess got the feeling that if she didn't leave soon, she wouldn't be able to see where she was going.
So she left, flying away as fast as her ride would enable her.
Now alone, the teen cast a hooded eye at his surroundings; the buildings, the trees, the immense beacon tower that was like a gigantic punctuation mark for the Atmos…
"This is gonna be fun," he muttered.
