Chapter 1: A typical day in Central
Sheska was in indescion about which month was her least favorite. May was at the top of the list, but she couldn't figure out which out of November and February she disliked the most. Both seemed to go out of their way to be bleak and dreary. Both prevented you from reading outside on benches, rocks, tree branches and grass, in February because of the slush and everything being wet and in November beacause of the gloves you need to be able to focus on the book instead of the numb pain in your fingers make it near impossible to make it to the next page in less than half a minute. If not for external factors, February was the worse of the 2 due to the previously stated wet, well, everything, like rugs, and cafeteria benches, and reports, not to mention people chatising you because hitting the furor in the head with a hardcover copy of The Plyght of the Alchemyst and the Sheepdogs was "wrong" and "against protocol" and "the absolute best way to get yourself stabbed in the head that you'll probably ever come up with." Well, they hadn't had to try to sort documents when they had been dropped into slush and needed begging the Flame Alchemist to dry them off with heat to stop dripping everywhere. Fortunately for February, it had Valentines day, and with it those romance novels that Major Armstrong liked so much. But never mind those, Sheska thought, it's March! Oh, and I'm at work. Half an hour, a few files and some reading later, someone burst into Sheska's office."Oh, Colonel Mustang!" Sheska exclaimed "What do you need?" "Personally, nothing." The colonel replied."But someone really annoying apparently wants something from you."
"He isn't that bad" Sheska said to Mustang. Ed responded with a flat " What? What's the Colonel talking his stupid mouth off about now?" "Nothing." The private reassured. "Now, what do you need?" "I need information on the Repiv lodestone. Have you read about it?" Ed demanded. Sheska gasped. Roy just said "What's that?" "Yes, I have! It's supposed to point the way to a snake that will destroy... Something. The book wasn't really clear on that." Sheska explained. "So, Fullmetal, did you come here to have a palentology lesson and irratate me personally, or do you actually need something?" The Colonel snarked. A shadow passed over Eds face. "I actually do." He said, his voice softer than usual. "Somebody's holding Al for ransom...And they want the lodestone."
"WHAT?" Sheska, Roy, and Hawkeye (Who was there to provide security and make sure she heard the news as well,) yelled.
"So, do you have any idea where the lodestone is?" Ed asked. "Give us a minute to think about this!" Sheska cried." Alphonse has been kidnapped? By who? How? Al couldn't have just been taken, he's too skilled!" "I actually think he might of just come into the ransomers place with the promise of cats..." Ed mused "YOUR BROTHER'S BEEN CAPTURED BY PEOPLE WHO WANT SOME SNAKE ROCK THING THAT SHESKA DIDN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS CATS!?" Colonel Mustang fumed, panicking at the news. "Everyone calm down." Hawkeye instructed."We should focus on doing what we need to do." Everyone fell quiet for fear of the lieutenants famed shooting skills/dog training methods. "The lodestone's location is somewhere in the north-east of Amestris." Sheska said, breaking the silence."I haven't read much about it. We could narrow down the location with some more books, but that will take some time." "Ok, fine." Ed responded."I'll be back in four days, alright?" Startled at the uncharacteristic docility in the diminuative state alchemist's voice, it was a moment before anyone could speak to answer Ed. Unsurprisingly, the anyone in question was Roy Mustang. "Fine." He stated, with his usual tone there, if a bit shaky. "Well, see you guys." Ed called back, his trademark bravado concealing any sign he had been upset.
After Ed had left Mustangs office, Sheska headed to the library. Colonel Mustang had let her off half an hour early to get the necessary research for the Repiv lodestone, and she didn't intend to waste a moment of it. Sheska burst into the library as quietly as the action would allow her to. Checking the well-worn pages of the card catalogue, she found a few thick books on the subject to bring home with her. As she checked them out, she wondered if there was any corralation between this and the big, dangerous event that was going on in April. Nobody had told her the specifics, or even the broad details, but she had been warned about it. Sheska sighed internally as she walked out the door, lifting the heavy book bag with both hands. It would be nice to not have things hidden from her. She wasn't told about what would happen that was so terrible on the day in April, why she probably should never go looking around random places in Central command,(A warning she never really understood the reasoning behind and certainly didn't need- she was perfectly happy in her office in the records department!) and she sensed an unspoken question hanging in the air, a secret that the Lieutenant, Colonel and Fullmetal alchemist were carefully avoiding letting Sheska know about. As it was, all Sheska could do was hope they had a reason for hiding it all from her. After all, she thought, if something so completely earth-shattering is going to happen, I should probably be told more about it than a date. Even if it's secretive, a brief description of what will happen would be appriciated. However, Sheska had noticed one important thing about the date the moment she'd been told about it. It was the day of the solar eclipse that she had been looking forward to. But, as Sheska finally sank into her favorite armchair with a steaming mug of coffee, all thoughts of hidden secrets that weren't involved with an ancient piece of mystical stone were thrown aside for the relevence and intrigue of the printed ones that were in front of her.
4 Days later, Central city...
Yeah, I'm leaving the FIRST CHAPTER as a cliffhanger!... sort of. Now, please, give me reviews! I hunger for both compliments and constructive critisism... Though I have an allergy to trolls, spam, bots, and people who complain that I didn't give Ed's clothes proper consideration. Yes, I know that by that point, Ed would have ditched his coat... But do you think that Sheska would have really noticed that? Also, it's like the middle of March. You would probably think "Oh, Ed, a teenage boy who, like most teenage boys, bases his clothing choice off of what looks cool, or, occasionally, extreme weather, isn't wearing a coat in March. Cool." Actually you'd probably be more like "OH HOLY *# &, IT'S EDWARD ELRIC LIKE ACTUALLY HIM AND NOT SOME COSPLAYER EEEEEEEEEEEE!" but you get the point. You'd also might put in some proper punctuation and tell me not to go off on tangents defending the fact that I didn't go into detail about the characters wardrobes, but I might not listen to that piece of constructive critisism. As in I definitely won't unless it's really detracting from the story. But it won't, because it will stay right here like a little cat that lures in suits of armour with a 14 year old's soul inside it. If he was actually lured in by that. (SPOILER ALERT: He wasn't. Probably.)