Set 10 yrs. after movie. All homunculi and Izumi are alive, plus some other minor changes. There is a new outbreak of murders in Central, and the culprit is yet to be found. Elysia has learned alchemy and joined the army, and when Roy visits Hughes' grave, he sees Maes. It is just his imagination, or is there a new Homunculus on the loose? And if so, who created it?
Pairings: EdxOC, POSSIBLE BUT NOT SURE YET HughesStang
The title translates as "To Hold a Grudge Against", and the name 'Succen' is a play on the title word.
Disclaimer: Not mine... otherwise Hughes would... well... -shoves into closet- Actually, Grudge is mine, Succen is mine, and Kato is my friend EdoElricLover's.
Succensere
Chapter One
"All right people! I want to know everything! Anything and everything that has happened here, I will know by tomorrow!" The man finished giving the order and started to leave the murder scene. He got as far as the edge of the chalk alchemy circle before the small wired ear bud emitted a minute voice:
"Base to investigations."
"Investigations, copy." The man spoke to a radio mike sewn into his collar.
"Sir, we've run a check on the possible suspects, and there are several, based on what we know happened."
"Names, Fuery." He pushed a stray strand of gray hair behind his ear. He needed to get his hair trimmed. Fuery gave him the names of the suspects, and he made note of each in his mind. They made sense, all but the last two. He had to rule the first one out automatically, though. There was no way Edward could've done this, he was at home with his brother. Had been for several years. Ever since that day nearly ten years ago when Ed had come home, looking eighteen for all the world, he had devoted his life to living. He was twenty-eight now. He still worked for and with the military, but the last they had heard, he was in the midst of planning a shotgun wedding.
That left the rest of the list. Hohenheim, Dante, and Scar's brother were all dead. Izumi was in poor health, and Al- well, he didn't make any sense either. He was out in the boondocks, conducting research on feral cats. The tall man smirked in spite of the scene he had just witnessed. No doubt the young man would try to bring several of them home.
"Uh, sir?" Fuery's voice buzzed in the man's ear, startling him out of his reverie.
"Yes?"
Fuery frowned slightly. The chief warrant officer was getting more and more easily distracted from his duties. "Just making sure you aren't-"
He cut himself off. A pained yell came over the mike. "Sir? Sir!" Fuery struggled to be heard over the obvious struggle that was happening. A muffled voice growled something that sounded like 'never held a grudge'. "Sir, what's going on? S- Falman!" The dark-haired man yelled his superior's name just as the radio device went dead in his ear. "Falman!" The sergeant's alarm rose to fever pitch as he tried fruitlessly again and again to get Falman to respond. Finally he gave up, running out into the hall at full speed. "Sheska! Sheska, get General Mustang here now!"
They all attended the warrant officer's funeral. Ed showed up with his new wife, Kato, and Al made the trek along with some recently tamed cats. Most of the attendees stayed a few minutes after, until only Ed, Kato, Roy and Alphonse remained.
"Why… Why would someone do this to Falman? He never hurt anybody…" Al hung his head, tears showing in his eyes.
"I know, brother, I know…" Ed wrapped his arm around Kato's shoulders. She shivered.
"You should get inside Fullmetal, White Angel… you need to be out of the cold, especially with her current condition…" Mustang looked at the couple, noting how swollen Kato's belly had become. They nodded and paid their last respects, then left. Al placed a hand on Roy's shoulder.
"We'll be at the dorms if you need us." Roy acknowledged the comment, and soon he was alone. He stood in the cold for a while, the wind stirring his hair. Deciding that while he was here, he should visit his friend's grave, he made the short trek to the headstone marked 'Hughes'.
The General stood alone against the biting wind, thinking about his deceased best friend. What would Maes have thought about this incident? He'd have mourned Falman's passing, all the while thinking out details of the case…That's what had made him such a good detective. He could be shoving pictures of Elysia into their faces for hours, and still have all his work and more finished by the end of the day. Roy gave a sad smile at the thought.
Where is Elysia, anyway? I didn't think she would… "Missed it, didn't I?"
Roy whirled at the unexpected voice from behind him. A teenage girl was approaching from the direction he had come. She was dressed in black, for mourning, and her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into low pigtails. She stepped up beside Roy, her green eyes shining with tears as she looked at her father's grave. "I wish Daddy could be here…" she intoned quietly.
"So do I," the general replied. He could tell she was antagonizing about her missing son even more, though. "I've set more people on the case. They haven't found much, but we can always hope for the best."
"Yeah." Elysia bit her lip and shifted a little. "Mom couldn't come."
"I see that."
"She's sick."
Roy nodded. He watched out of the corner of his eye as his goddaughter shifted again, this time laying a hand on the stone. The granite slab's corner started to bubble and shape, until a small stone rose had bloomed out of it. Elysia smiled wanly, then bid Mustang farewell and left.
The black-haired man watched her go, then returned his attention to the grave, namely the rose. He was glad that Elysia had learned alchemy; she was invaluable around the offices. She reminded them all so much of her father, especially when she left random pictures of her son around the place. The blonde didn't shove them in everyone's faces and yell all the time like Maes had, but she was definitely her father's daughter.
Though Elysia was sixteen, she had a three-year-old son due to an incident with her first boyfriend. Succen's father was currently on the other side of the country as enforced by a restraining order signed by General Mustang himself. In an effort to support the child without encumbering Gracia, the girl had learned alchemy as extensively as she could, then joined the military. That had been a year ago.
Succen had gone missing about a month ago, days before the newest string of murders had started. It was believed that the same person had taken him, and though there was hope, it was scarce. Mustang missed the child as much as he missed Hughes.
"I'm sorry, my friend… I guess your family is just doomed to face tragedy." Roy told the rose, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets.
"Isn't she just beautiful?" This time the approaching person didn't startle Roy. It was what he had said that unnerved him.
"What?"
"My little girl, of course. And yes, I suppose we are prone to drama." The man who spoke was tall, about an inch taller than Roy. He wore a long trench coat, the collar obscuring most of his face, and his dark hair was trimmed short. He adjusted his glasses. Roy could only stare. His gaze flickered to the tombstone, and back to the man. He could just make out the eye color…
He took a sharp breath. No, his vision must be playing tricks on him. It couldn't be… he looked at the granite slab again. "Maes…?" He looked back, and tears sprang to his eyes.
He was alone in the graveyard.
"Did it work?"
"Yes. I'm as immune as Wrath, if not more so." The man took off his trench coat, depositing it in a chair. He smirked. This would be easier than he had anticipated. As he passed by a mirror in the apartment the Homunculi shared, he stopped to study his reflection.
His clothing was the usual homunculus black, but the lower half vaguely resembled a military uniform with red trim instead of white. He wore black slacks, boots, and a waistband similar to Envy's. His tank was also black; a large red spot was positioned between his collarbones, and the strips went from it to a circle on each shoulder, then continued from there to a convergence in the small of his back. Another one ran from the spot on his collarbone to another just above his navel; the last went from spots on Grudge's wrists to ones on the inner joints at his elbows.
His right hand, the palm of which carried an ouroboros, smoothed out his near-black hair, but a strand of his bangs fell in front of his single purple eye. The other eye was a yellowish gold color, and along with his goatee, remained the most obvious of the traits leftover from his previous life. Both pupils were feline, though.
"So Lust was right. How convenient for you, Grudge." Envy smiled from his place on the couch.
"Yes, this will prove to be an advantage on our part." Sloth mumbled, her voice drifting quietly. "Where are you going?"
"I have some business to attend to on behalf of my daughter."
"But she's not-" Envy started. He quieted at the icy daggers Grudge had literally thrown at him. They were quickly retrieved.
"I'll be back."
To be continued
