A/N: This is my Tales of Vesperia Fullmetal Alchemist AU. All the characters have their versions of the FMA characters; of course, there are a few FMA characters that remain the same, however.
This fic is just, basically, a bunch of one-shots. It will not go in any order and may hold different parts of the manga/anime (by the way, this is based off of Brotherhood). It may jump from the end of the anime to the beginning, just whatever I feel like writing then. Most likely this story will contain more darker themes...as evident from the very first chapter.
So, beware when you continue. There will be major spoilers, character death, and other topics like such. Proceed with caution.
In the dark room, alone, with nothing more than a map and his own mumblings, Yuri Lowell had not expected a visitor. His realization had dawned upon him only in the light of the hallway, blanching some of his long black hair into a purplish, lighter color as he whispered to himself. His brow was furrowed in concentration, concern brewing in his stormy grey eyes, fingers digging into the thin paper hard enough he heard one edge of it tear slightly.
"Fuck," he hissed simply, this time more aloud than the whispers and murmurs under his breath. "Fuck. Who could have-" Yuri cut his words off, shaking his head and his fists tightened slightly. There was no time for questioning who could have bloomed such a terrible plan. This was terribly, terribly urgent. "I need to tell someone. Flynn, or the Fuhrer," he whispered to himself. "Right awa-"
A shadow briefly encompassed him, curvy and thin, and then the door slammed shut.
He hissed under his breath and froze before whipping around, hair splaying about him. His eyes quickly grew used to the sudden darkness, only light filtering in from around the door. He could see the woman's figure and glittery greenish eyes, like a cat's when it'd spotted its prey. There was the gentle whisper of fabric and the sound of heels clicking as the woman stepped forward, and he could see even more. Pointed, strange ears were adorned at the sides of her head.
"Hello there, Lieutenant Colonel Lowell," she whispered, and he did not recognize the voice. "It's nice to meet you. Well...perhaps, not for you." No. Of course it wouldn't be.
"Heh, I expected you to bring some cookies and milk or something. Woulda made your visit a little better," Yuri replied, sarcasm dripping like venom from his voice, when he heard a biting sound of a sharp object. He could see the fingernails on one of the woman's hands were outstretched into orange claws, the tips colored black and they looked painful. Yuri didn't want to experience them, that was for sure.
He took a few steps back and heard the woman come even closer, still able to see those glittering eyes and the claws at her side. Click. Clack. Click.
Yuri noticed something in the darkness, then; something black, a tattoo, painted on her chest. "Rocking a tattoo, are you?" he asked jokingly.
"You'd like those to be your last words?"
Not particularly, no.
The woman lunged, baring the claws high and striking forward. Yuri reached into the inside of his uniform, just in time - the blade he recovered sunk into the woman's chest, right in the eye of the dragon on her tattoo, but her claws sunk into his right shoulder, ripping fabric and then flesh. He felt the warmth of blood welling up as soon as the claws withdrew.
Yuri staggered to the door, grunting in pain, as quickly as he could, flinging it open with his left arm. His balance could only hold out for so long, though, and he tripped, falling to his side - and onto his injured shoulder - with a brief yelp of pain. Fuck, it hurt.
"Burn in hell," he spat to the woman still inside the room, grimacing in pain before finally pulling himself up to his feet again. "Dammit-hurts-" He fell against the wall to steady himself, not paying any attention to the drips and smears of blood that marked his painful path.
He found himself in a room full of telephones not soon enough for his likes, a woman sitting at the desk. She didn't turn around yet to look at him, but he'd been the only one back that way; of course she knew who he was.
"Lowell! You're back already? Come to tell me a story about Patty, the-?"
She gasped as she turned around, seeing the pained form of the lieutenant colonel. "Oh my god! What happened to you? Are you alright?" she immediately questioned. Yuri fought glaring at her; no, he wasn't alright. He had claw wounds from a demon lady and the whole country was going downhill. The thought of his child and his friend, though - they put renewed energy in him and he stumbled past.
"No. I'm fine," he hissed through grit teeth, bangs hiding his eyes like curtains over a window, heading towards the nearest phone. "I-I need a private line. Need to - tell him something, Scifo. I need to contact Colonel Scifo," the man said, voice clearly pained as he put his hand on the phone. Then he paused.
No, dammit, that won't work. They'll figure it out. They'll block the call. I can't.
"S-sorry. Never mind. Can't...here."
"But, sir -"
"No. Get b-back to..your work. Sorry I interrupted," Yuri said, setting off towards the exit of the building.
...
"Come on. Come on. I don't have time for this - I need to speak with Colonel Flynn Scifo, now. This is incredibly urgent -"
I apologize, I'm not allowed to connect to an outside line.
"Oh, come on! You're speaking to Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Lowell. Please. Hurry - this is a matter of life and death."
Can I have your code, please?
Swallowing the urge to curse aloud at her, he snapped as he dug for his code. "What part of 'life and death' do you mean? Are you trying to waste time here, lady?" he snapped. "It's-Brave Vesperia nine zero zero. Come on."
Your code is granted. Connecting you to Colonel Scifo, please hold while I do so.
"Hurry! It's an emergency-"
Click.
He froze before glancing behind him, able to see red hair out of the corner of his eye. He said nothing for a moment, speechless and feeling a wave of desperation come over him. He had not gotten here fast enough.
"I need to ask you to put down the receiver, please." Kaufman's voice.
He turned his head, lowering the phone and briefly staring down at the handgun. Oh.
"Go on," she said, dark red eyes gazing emotionlessly at him. "Just hang up."
"You...look just like.." he paused, eyes narrowing and gazing a little closer. "...You're not. Who the...fuck are you? You're not Lieutenant Kaufman, that's for sure. Who do you think you are?"
"I'm second lieutenant Kaufman," she purred. "I don't know what you're thinking. You must be hallucinating...you have lost quite a bit of blood."
Perhaps he was. "Doubt-able, at best. Her eyes...they're much lighter than that. They're not crimson."
"Simply a trick of the light," the woman said, in a voice that was not Kaufman's. She smiled too big to look human, raising her finger to gloss it over each eye briefly. As she did, as it did, the eyes changed from a deep red to a lighter one, more familiar to him. "How's it now? Better?"
"Gh-" He turned his head away, effectively weirded out by this.Two demon ladies, that's just great. Why couldn't it have just been two normal women, hm? "Please...please tell me I'm hallucinating, this cannot be happening." No way in hell. Or Amestris.
"You really are smart, you know. Too smart, you know? It's almost cliche," the not-Kaufman voice purred. "You weren't even involved before. You got pulled in. And now? Now you know too much, and that can just not be treated without consequences."
"Aw, have a heart. And a life, come on. I've got better things to do. You're really going to just kill little old me? Besides...I've got a daughter at home waiting for me. Dying is the last thing I'm going to do."
He pulled a blade from his sleeve, then, whipping around with his hair flying in the brief breeze as he did so - and then he froze, eyes widening.
Flynn stood in front of him, smiling and looking innocently at him, as if he were offering him a bag of candy instead of a bullet. The smile widened to a grin and his finger found the trigger. "Hm. You look a little...surprised," he said, voice a perfect imitation of the colonel's. "I know just the remedy for that."
"No..." he breathed, frozen in place. "What the hell are-"
BANG!
Ring...
Click.
[ There's a Lieutenant Colonel Lowell on hold. He says it's urgent. ]
"Of course he does...look, Lowell, I don't have time for stories about your kid. I've got a lot of work to do."
Silence met Flynn as he held the phone to his ear.
"...Yuri?" He breathed the man's first name this time. "Yuri? Are you okay...? Yuri!" He heard a noise, just the softest one. Then he heard someone pick up the phone.
Click.
"Heh. Humans are so stupid," a figure said, standing above the soldier crumpled in the phone booth. The young man's hair was curtained around him and a good bit was stained with blood. The figure, holding a gun, smiled down at him, leaning down and pushing his multicolored hair back as if in tiredness before bringing his head back in a sharp, splitting laugh. "You waste your lives for nothing."
"Go...to hell," Yuri spat, glaring weakly up at his assailant.
"Sure. Just reserve me a spot when you get there, hmm?"
With those parting words, Yuri saw the shapeshifter stride away, pace light and apparently not guilty in the least for what he'd done.
"Patty...I'm so, so sorry," he whispered. "I meant to come home for you. I meant...to have a life with you. Daddy...daddy loves you, okay..?" The man closed his eyes. "Flynn...do..do your best. I believe in you. I...always w-will."
Alone, body bathed in crimson blood and the golden light from a nearby street lamp, Yuri Lowell exhaled for the final time.
Silence was heavy, only broken by the sound of footsteps against dry grass; six pairs of them. They were weighed down by the coffin they bore, a green flag embroidered with a white dragon resting upon the width of the fabric. Centered on it was a hat, apart of their uniform, with a shiny piece of chrome with the same dragon symbol on it in the middle of it. They led it through the graveyard, towards an empty grave that people were crowded solemnly around.
Ceremonial shots rang out while the quietness of the funeral attendees was only broken by soft sobs. The coffin was lowered in and shovels of dirt beginning to bury the body of the deceased soldier.
Flynn Scifo stood, head bowed and closed eyes hidden behind the shadow of the hat, listened quietly to the noises, feeling pain and grief claw at his throat and chest like a beast begging to be released. When he heard the soft voice of a child, a girl, Yuri's, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grimacing. The girl was with him at the moment (she had grown up without a mother, and now - now her father was gone, too) and she was standing beside Lowell's canine, Repede. The shepherd dog sat with his head raised and quietly, Patty's arms wrapped around his neck and pressing against him.
"Why's Daddy gotta be buried?" she asked softly, voice trembling. "He said he's got a lotta work to do. He couldn' play with me the other day 'cos he had so much work. Why're they puttin' dirt all over him?" She raised her voice, trying to call the attention of the soldiers burying Lowell. Repede shifted, licking her cheek to comfort her.
"Hey! C'mon, you can't bury him! He's gotta bunch of stuff to do! He's gotta help me 'n Mr. Scifo 'n - pleaseeee! Daddy!"
Flynn's breath hitched and he grit his teeth harder. Don't cry, he repeated like a mantra in his mind. Don't you dare cry.
"Daddyyyyy!"
He felt tears welling up in his eyes at the cries of desperation, before finally one of them slipped.
...
Flynn stood in front of the newly laid grave, holding his hat at his side. His hair was slicked back, unruly tangles and spikes of hair tamed for once, albeit a few strands in front refused to be leashed by something as petty as hair gel.
"You're a brigadier general now, huh? I thought...you were going to be under me, helping me my way to the top, huh?" He gave a soft, sad smile, one full of longing. Longing to see those grey eyes alive and full of passion and excitement again. He felt a tug of guilt for all those times he'd acted in annoyance to Yuri's (slightly overwhelming) love for his daughter. "You've got it...backwards, you know?"
He closed his eyes briefly. "...crazy idiot. I don't know..what you were thinking."
"Hey." He heard his lieutenant's voice and turned his head, watching her stride up to him. His gaze fell back to Yuri's grave, at the flowers that formed a sort of crown at the base of it.
"We alchemists are...we're horrible creatures, aren't we?" His blue gaze found his hand, and, for a moment, he saw blood on them, saw the sparks of flame appearing from his fingertips. They weren't actually there. "There's...a side of me...more than I'd like to know about, and it's...trying to figure out how to get him back. It's trying to figure out the way to...bring him back.
"I think I...no, I...I understand what drove...them to...try and bring back their mother. It's...an overwhelming desire."
Sodia was quiet for a few moments, gazing at him. "...Are you alright, sir?" she murmured after a moment.
"Yes, of course. I'm fine," he replied, reaching down to pull his hat on, one matching the one that had been on Lowell's coffin. "Except...it's quite a terrible day for rain."
Sodia glanced around. There were few clouds in the sky.
"...What do you mean, sir? It's...not raining."
Flynn's voice cracked a little when he spoke again, tipping his head up to the sky. "Yes. It is," he whispered, a raindrop - not a teardrop, definitely not - dripping down his cheek.
"Let...let's go, now," he whispered, and turned away. With hesitance, Sodia nodded, turning with them.
Together, they strode quietly away from the grave where Brigadier General Yuri Lowell had been laid to rest.