this was requested for me to do so guess what? it's being done.

thanks for reading and please, don't hesitate to review,
- royalvite.

Fractured Mind, Broken Soul

a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction
written by: royalvite.

CHAPTER ZERO

( prologue )

.

"Colonel Mustang, there is a call for you from Lieutenant Colonel Hughes."

The young man felt his onyx eyes roll within moments of hearing the formal tones of Central's receptionist. At the very prospect of speaking to Maes, he found himself groaning - not because he didn't like him; they were best friends, so of course he liked the man; but because he didn't feel in the mood for yet another eccentric speech about the Hughes family that he had heard millions of times before. The stacks of paperwork were getting taller and taller and he had no time to do anything else apart from work at this current period. "Patch me in," Roy Mustang spoke clearly into the phone, his tone purposefully cold and demanding.

... trust Roy to behave that way, eh?

Externally, Roy was a sophisticated man in the prime of his life. With a clean-shaven, baby-faced visage, the infamously cold Colonel certainly attracts a great deal of attention from his admirers. His dark hair, often falling over his eyes in a messy and unkempt style, had been slicked backwards with gel to add a formal tone to his atmosphere - the action had aided the dangerous air that swept around the man, the general expression brought by the fierce gleam in the pit of his onyx optics, contrasting harshly with the pale smoothness of the unblemished skin that stretched loosely over handsome features.

A great fan of classy attire, Roy was rarely seen dressed in something other than his military uniform (and even while in uniform will often don other impressive accouterments, such as a long, black overcoat and white formal-wear gloves); the outfits marked his muscled build, lanky yet strong in many kind of ways. But when dressed in civilian clothes, he appears rather partial to the three-piece suit and black tie (frequently coupled with classic scarves, polished dress shoes and the aforementioned overcoat and gloves). It was interesting to note that Roy tends toward dark or neutral colors in his dress, such as dark blue, brown and black tempered with minimal white.

On the surface, Roy seemed to be a shallow and self-absorbed youthful man, infamous among many of his colleagues and subordinates alike for the selfish and narcissistic aura he gives off. Easily as arrogant as any of his coequals, Colonel Mustang was one to act in an ostentatious manner and appears to act mostly out of self-interest rather than any sort of philanthropy. He comes off to most as a sort of cocky layabout, shirking most of his duties and delegating his paperwork to subordinates while sitting idly at his desk with an amused smile on his face as he procrastinates, but quick to take action when it appears that there is glory and military notoriety to be gained.

Though, many knew better than to assume such a personality in Roy. At the core, he was a remarkably devoted commander whose primary focus and personal duty is to his friends and subordinates. Though he hid it well behind a veil of cynicism and self-importance, Mustang was a man who cared deeply about the people who trust and support him and goes to great lengths to ensure their safety and well-being, even at the risk of his own. As a man with considerable power, Mustang considers himself a protector to those without and acts accordingly, earning the staunch loyalty of his most trusted compatriots.

Everyone else in the office seemed to look up at the sound of the Colonel speaking, but continued to sort through their own paperwork as soon as they realized that he was only on the phone and not relaying words to them. Jean Havoc, though, wore an expression that appeared more humorous than his other subordinates' seriously-set faces; it took Roy a few moments of listening to the crackling in the phone line as the call was patched in to notice that the blonde found something Hawkeye was doing quite funny. The Colonel sent Jean a half-hearted glare, reminding him to continue with the paperwork, before finally the familiar tone burst into his ear. "Roy-Boy!" the voice shrilled brightly, "a little birdie told me that you're stuck doing paperwork for the rest of the week."

"Hughes, I don't have the time to hear about-"

"Of course you do, but I don't. I'm calling you about a mission that seems to be signed under your name, actually." The man's voice had gone from joking to refreshingly serious. At this, Roy visibly brightened and he leant forward on his desk, resting his elbows against it.

"A mission?" he repeated, catching his subordinates' attention - they all glanced up at him, the two appearing the most interested being Jean and Riza. "Signed under my name? What is the mission, Hughes?"

"The mission description reads: Roy must find and eliminate an escapee convicted murderer, named the Blacksmith Alchemist when he had been a State-Alchemist a few years back, a psychotic man known as Caston 'Cato' Devon."

"Cato? I remember him," Roy hummed thoughtfully, "he murdered quite a few innocent people who had been learning forms of alchemy to become a State-Alchemist - is that who you're talking about?" The other military soldiers in the room were listening fully now, leaning forward on their desks with cocked eyebrows and curious sparkles in the pit of their optics.

"Ding, ding, ding! You got it, Roy-Boy. The guy who could only create weapons, torture devices and other things like that with his alchemic skills. I still don't get why he couldn't perform proper alchemy, but that doesn't matter. You need to kill him, preferably with little collateral damage, by the way. It's best you use a gun instead of your flame alchemy... we don't want to burn down things you don't need to. We all know how you like to go a bit... over the top."

"A gun? Lame. Ah, well, at least I get to get out of doing paperwork for a bit. Where is he and when should I advance, Hughes?" The man stretched out on his chair, his finger absently drumming at the armrest as he ran his gaze over his subordinates. There sat Kain Fuery; ranked a young sergeant, Kain is uncommonly gentle and a helpful soldier, always willing to aid his peers and, most of all, younger and lower soldiers. He was a 'tech geek' and communications guru- he sometimes stated he had the luck to make his hobby become his job. He is the sole enlisted member of the unit as well as its youngest and smallest member.

The sole female in the unit; Riza Hawkeye was a weapons specialist whose job lies in parallel with the unit's hierarchy. She answered to Mustang alone and worked as his secretary, bodyguard and personal aide. She was the only member of the unit who was acquainted with the colonel prior to the war in Ishval, and the two have known each other for most of their lives. Considered to be one of the top sharpshooters in the State Military, Riza was highly regarded for her serious demeanor and discipline, though sometimes it made her seem unapproachable and aloof. Contrary to that image, however, those close to her enjoy teasing with her temperament and often state that she was a lot sweeter than she seems. She was the highest ranked subordinate in Mustang's unit, being a first lieutenant.

Then, sat with a cocky grin on his face, was Vato Falman. He was a warrant officer who specialized highly in intelligence and common sense, with extraordinary memory and knowledge, especially in history. However, his job was mostly connected to office work and he rarely participates in field operations. Though, extent of his information had proven to be extremely valuable and is highly necessary to the unit's work.

Jean Havoc - one of the best soldiers in the unit to speak to, thanks to his friendly and approachable attitude. He was regular but nevertheless capable as the rest, despite being rather talentless in any field; he compensated for his lack of natural talent with dedication and effort. His character and loyalty had been proven to Mustang beyond the shadow of a doubt and, therefore, he has been made the Officer-in-Chief of Mustang's Unit, coordinating the work of Breda, Falman and Fuery (but not Hawkeye). Although he had little combat experience, Havoc was the most efficient officer in field missions after Hawkeye.

Heymans Breda was an extremely talented soldier, graduating at the top of his class (Havoc was his classmate in the Academy) and was specialized in all sorts of information gathering, especially those that require travel and speaking different languages. His unimpressive appearance allows him to pass by unnoticed (or underestimated) by most military personnel, a trait he uses to his advantage in stealth missions. All in all, he was very valuable, as well as rather pleasant to converse with.

"Ah, good! You're interested! Up in North - quite far from Briggs but still in the colder region anyways - there's a rundown village called Cranebrook Burrow. It's got a very small population and they are loyal to the few citizens that live there, meaning that they wouldn't be outing Cato's location very easily. Just in case, I want you to pick someone in your unit to bring with you. Get up there by Monday."

"Is R-"

"Apart from Riza, Roy-Boy. I need her back here. Why don't you bring Havoc with you? He hasn't been on the field for a while and he could do with some fresh air. Plus, he's very capable; you know that." Roy glanced over at the blonde Officer-in-Chief in interest, to see him sat laughing behind his hand at a picture of a fat cat that Vato had drawn on the corner of a loose piece of paper. Rolling his eyes but doing nothing to snap him back into attention, the Colonel stifled a long sigh. "Plus, he makes train journeys interesting. Ever played pun wars with him? He's been nicknamed the King Pun the First, he's that good."

Momentarily, Roy brought the phone away from his ear and sent a half-hearted snigger at Jean. "King Pun the First?" The grinning blonde's cheeks were sprinkled with a hint of shamed red as the rest of the Mustang Unit snickered behind their breaths - even Riza had to cover her mouth to hold back the loud snort that threatened to erupt from her throat like a volcano. "Fine. I'll bring him with me, Hughes, but you owe me one."

"Yay! Now do you want to hear about my adorable little-" The phone made a gentle click as Roy set it down, glaring at it darkly. There was no way he was going to live through Mae's speech about how adorable his child was, do you want to see a picture of her when we were at the beach? He briefly registered Breda mocking Riza as she, as per usual, quietly told him to be easy on the phone, he was going to break it if he carried on.

"Yo Colonel," Havoc called out, twisting his cigarette between his lips, "what mission are ya going on? What does it have to do with Cato?"

"I'll tell you on the way there, Havoc," Roy responded absently, fingering through a small portion of the paperwork splayed messily across his desk. Upon noticing the puzzled looks he received at the statement, the Colonel forced himself to continue. "I was supposed to bring one of you with me, but Hughes told me take Jean out, because he hadn't been on the field for a long while. We're going up near Briggs, leaving tomorrow."

"Briggs? You'll freeze your ass off," Breda joked, earning a collective hum of agreement that echoed off the office's vast walls.

"Very funny, very funny. We'll kick ass up there, won't we, Boss?" Jean's visage seemed cockier then ever before but, instead of being annoyed by it, Roy found himself laughing at the proud smirk crossing his reasonably-handsome features.

"Well, I'll kick ass, you'll hide in the corner squealing as I do all the work."

"... rude."

that's the prologue done!

this was requested on my other story so I actually started it and this came out... I like it so far! please mind that it is short because it's a prologue. anyhow, I like to do a fact about myself on the end of every chapter, so I'll pop one down here...

fact: I love Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Breathe Carolina. good people. good songs. much love.

regarding reviews...
please don't hesitate to offer your opinion! I prefer to read more detailed reviews instead of a one-liner 'please continue!'. while I don't mind that, I would really appreciate a longer, more detailed review. they make me smile like crazy! please don't hesitate! if you'd like a better chapter in a shorter time, go ahead and ward off writer's block with an amazing review. (:

thank you for reading,
- royalvite.

INSERTS SELF PROMOplease read my other story, 'Silent Nightmares', and offer your opinion on that too!
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