A.N.- I'm tired, so if any of you Vladimir Tod fans spot something YES I SEE THAT THERE I WROTE IT THERE! You can comment and say "oooh now I see it" but leave it for other people to find, too, k? It's my own in-text Geocashe. Had EOG's today. Easy, but I finished so early I had to wait another 2- 3 hours before I could do anything. SLOW PEOPLE! * sniff * Well, enjoy this chapter but be ready for some serious sh*t from Ed's mouth.
The Sunset Alchemist, Ch. 2
"God, Al. Mustang called me all the way back to Central in the summer! Can you believe that?! The nerve of him. I really wanted to go back to Resembool, maybe visit Winry…." The Fullmetal Alchemist paused from his rant to inspect his company, a tall but hollow suit of armor.
"What? You actually wanted to go visit Winry and Granny? Without broken automail? You must be crazy." A laugh resonated inside the empty helmet. His older brother laughed.
"Weird, huh? I've actually been holding out pretty well. This thing hasn't broken in a while. Winry fixed it pretty well last time." He flexed his right arm, but instead of flesh, the whirring sound of gears and wires sounded. His arm and left leg were prosthetics.
The two brothers strolled leisurely through the crowded streets of Central city. Amestris was famous for attracting tourists during the summer, and Central drew the most people in. It was enormous, with distinct districts for housing and a large military headquarters in the center of it all.
"I wonder what Roy is gonna rag me about this time." Ed sighed, "I filed that report on the Elysian disappearances and everything- do you think I was too vague or something, Al?" Alphonse shrugged.
"He might have another lead for us on the Stone. Did you consider that?" Ed grimaced,
"N- yeah. I just don't like getting help from that sick bastard. I'd rather just have the funding and look on our own."
"Brother, we owe Colonel Mustang a lot. He's taken care of us for the last few years and has helped us with our research." Ed snorted,
"Right." After a few more minutes of walking the two brothers arrived at the front gates of the Amestris Military Headquarters. It towered above them and disappeared in the gleam of the hot summer sun.
Edward scowled and marched inside.
"Hawkeye, I want a meeting scheduled with the Eastern Minister."
"Sir,"
"Havoc, get the head of the District Branch on the line, I need to discuss the new military housing units."
"On it, Chief."
"Hayate-" Roy Mustang paused, suddenly realizing he was speaking to his assistant's dog as if it was one of his men.
"- stay cute." The puppy barked once in response, then swiveled around to the entrance.
"Dammit, Mustang this had better be important!" The double doors burst open to admit the Fullmetal Alchemist with his brother trailing behind.
"Ah, Fullmetal. About time you got here." The Colonel pointed to one of the leather couches in front of his desk. Ed huffed and flopped onto one. Alphonse sat down delicately on the one facing opposite him.
"Well, Fullmetal, I wanted to ask you about the report on-"
"The Elysian Parliament disappearances, yeah, yeah, I did that." He waved his automail arm about dismissively in the air. Mustang frowned,
"Saying you blew up the conference building and the brothel does not count as a state-worthy explanation of your mission. Edward paused from observing the fascinating movements of the wild ceiling fan to glare at his superior.
"Mustang, you asked me to report on what happened. I did. That's pretty much all you need to know."
"Did you find anything on the Stone?" Roy asked quietly, "Is that why you're evading a full report?" The young alchemist's head snapped up.
"No." He growled, "Trust me, if we had I wouldn't be here reporting to you." Alphonse raised a placating hand.
"Brother, Colonel Mustang was just asking-"
"So? It's none of his business, anyway! Come on, Al, let's go." He and his brother stood abruptly and made their way to the door. As they were leaving the room, Riza Hawkeye brushed past them with a sympathetic glance and all but ran to Mustang's desk. As she whispered rapidly into the Colonel's ear, his face grew grave. Edward and Al had turned to see what had unsettled the First Lieutenant so and saw the change in Mustang's features. The Flame Alchemist stood abruptly.
"Elrics, come with me." He snapped. Ed rolled his eyes,
"Fine. But after this I'm going to go take a nap." Roy turned and spoke softly to the brothers,
"You need to see this."
The military car pulled to a halt in the farthest reaches of Central's finest neighborhood. Ed and his brother climbed out of the car recklessly, but were stopped by Hawkeye.
"Boys," She said quietly, "This is awful. I don't think you should-"Edward brushed by her brashly, leaving Alphonse apologizing to the First Lieutenant. He then hurried after his older brother, and was about to turn a corner when his brother's inhuman cry of rage reached his ears.
"You Bastard!" Ed had a military official slammed against the wall, his forearm holding the man about an inch off the ground by his neck. Alphonse ran to his brother and dragged him away from the officer. Edward was panting and screaming incoherent nonsense.
"Brother! Calm down! Why did you attack the soldier?" Ed whirled around wildly, punching at his brother's armor furiously. Then he stopped and pressed his fists to the cold metal. The armor absorbed the heat from his palm, making his flesh hand cold. He leaned his forehead against Alphonse's breast plate and quietly whispered,
"Al, she's gone. Winry's gone."
"What!" The armor was too shocked to respond to his brother all but sobbing onto his empty chest. He gently pushed Edward off of him and rounded the corner. A sheet was on the ground, covering a shape resembling a body.
It couldn't be…
Despite the protests of the officers around him Alphonse pulled back the sheet to reveal its contents.
If he had a stomach he would have retched.
Winry, her pale face such a contrast against the dark cobblestones under her- stained burgundy. Her eyes were closed, almost as if she was sleeping. Alphonse replaced the covering and stumbled back to Ed. He gathered his sobbing brother into his arms and held him.
They cried.
They wept.
They mourned.
All through the night the Elric brothers cried for their childhood friend's death.
A.N.- I said Ed had a mouthful coming. I feel really bad for making the Fullmetal Alchemist have a breakdown- IN PUBLIC. But it suits the opening for my OC. Vote for names, yall! She needs a name! (If I don't get any good suggestions I'll give her a white trash name- we all don't want that, now do we?) R & R Guys! Stay awesome!
