CHAPTER 2
"Are you sure you won't need a ride, Miss Blackstone?" asked Lieutenant Ruston. His earlier resentment towards her had softened after he heard about her family from a passing cadet. Hikari smiled and said, "No that wont be necessary", she said. Vince shot her a look. The minute Hikari had left the Colonel's office; she had told Vince and Caleb what he had said. As Ruston drove away, Vince immediately turned to Hikari and said, "Are you out of your freakin mind?!!" Hikari said nothing as she turned and walked away. "You refuse a nice, safe ride from a military operative who has a gun in case a highly trained assassin happens to show up, and walk on the street instead?! I repeat, you are out of you freakin mind." Vince was acting angry but, inside, he was very badly worried. He was afraid that, if Hunt did show up soon, Hikari wouldn't be able to fight him or he and Caleb wouldn't be enough to protect her..."Its ok." Hikari said as she continued walking down the street. "I have a plan". "A plan?! What kind of plan could you possibly have to prepare for a highly paid, world class assassin?!" Vince replied angrily. Caleb looked from the two of them and said, "Kari, Vince is right, the best plan you could have is to lay low and possibly look into getting a bodyguard...". Hikari stopped short, "No" she said. "No way in hell am I getting a bodyguard!!!!".Vince and Caleb exchanged looks. They knew the Colonel would most likely assign a bodyguard to Hikari and would not tell her about it. They decided not to pursue the issue. "Well, why don't we drop in on dad and Elenea? We haven't seen them in a while."Said Caleb, trying to change the subject. "Yeah, let's do that." Vince said, "Hey Hikari you coming?". He asked as he saw her turn away. "Yeah..." She answered, "But later, I think I'll stop by the cemetery first...". "Do you want us to come with you?" Caleb asked concern in his voice. "No...". She said, "I'll go by myself and you guys haven't been home in a while right? I'll come by later."."Well ok if that's what you want...but you know if you don't come later my mom will be mad that you didn't come in and stay for a while...". Said Vince smiling. Hikari looked up at him and grinned, "No worries.", She said. "I know better then to offend Elenea!" They then turned and went their separate ways, completely unknowing that they were being watched, and by more than one person.
Jake Hunt lowered the binoculars that he had been looking into. Good, they were splitting up, that would make his job easier. He had been watching the trio from the top of a nearby building that was, at the moment, unoccupied. He didn't really like the idea of killing a kid (especially a girl) but well, money was money and if he didn't make this girl disappear, the resistance would make HIM disappear. Actually, he thought to himself, I might not have to kill her at all. His mission was to try to convince the kid to join the resistance movement or kill her if she refused. He got paid both ways so he didnt care much at all. And, after doing some research on her family, it was very unlikely that she would even consider joining the resistance. He held the binoculars to his face again and followed her with his eyes. I should get going, he thought, I might lose her. He quickly got his equipment and climbed down the fire escape and onto the street.
"Well, well, well, looks like our boy Hunt is on the move." Said a boy. He was pretty small and looked about 12 or so and wore a plain black sweat shirt and dark blue jeans. He had jet black hair, pale skin and eerie purple eyes. He turned to the other person standing on the roof with him. "Should we follow him or just kill him before he reaches the girl?" The boy said. The other figure thought for a moment. He was older then his companion and looked to be about 18. He wore a black, baggy jacket and a hood that obscured his face. "Follow him." he said, "I don't want to have any unnecessary blood shed going on, people might ask questions.". He turned to leave. The moment he left the roof top the boy sneered and muttered, "You're taking all of the fun out of this, Pride." He then followed him down the fire escape and onto the street, after Hunt and Hikari.
Hikari stopped outside the florist shop and went inside. A cheerful looking man in a blue apron answered the door. "Can I help you with anything, Miss?" He asked pleasantly. She smiled and said, "Do you have any Sunflowers, Daisies, or Lilacs?" She asked. The man thought for a second and smiled, "Yes we have some of each, they for a special occasion?" "Kinda...I'm going to visit my family and I haven't seen them in a while so I thought I might bring them something." she answered. The man smiled brightly and said,"That's wonderful! How many would you like of each flower?"."Two of each would be good." she said, "and do you have any plastic vases that I could set them in?". "Yes we do and...you seem like a nice girl so I'll let you have three vases for free, you can pick out the colors too.". Hikari tried to protest but the man insisted.
Finally, she chose three vases then thanked the man for his generosity and left. She held the flowers in one hand and the bag holding the vases in the other as she walked down the street. She came to the cemetery entrance and went to the gate house so they would open the gates. The man sitting there looked tired and very unpleasant. "Yeah, what do ya want?" He said rudely. He took one look at Hikari's clothes (complete black-on-black) and said, "What are you doing here? We don't allow hoodlum scum like you in!" Hikari wasn't in the mood to argue and said as evenly as she could, "I'm here to visit a few people inside." "Oh yeah? And what might the names be?" He said, thinking that he caught her in some kind of lie. "Not that it's any of your business but I'm here to visit my family. Name's Blackstone." The man opened his mouth then closed it in semi-shock. Blackstone! He thought, damn! This kid is from one of those old, powerful military families! But wait...there's no way this could be Hikari Blackstone...I heard she's a state alchemist and this girl is WAY too young. He smiled slyly and said, "Fine, but I'll need some proof of you're identity, ya know, for security reasons.". Hikari lost her temper. "You want proof?! Fine HERES your damn proof!!!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out her silver state alchemist watch and flung it into the man's hands. "I trust THAT will be enough proof for you!" She said as the man gaped at her and the watch. "Now," she said, fighting to keep her voice level. "Will you open the gates?". The man nodded dumbly and handed her watch back to her as he pressed the button on his switch board and the gate flung open. As she left she said pleasantly, "Have a nice day!", and carried the flowers and the vases out. The man just waved slightly then turned away and started to make himself a cup of coffee.
"Hi Mom, Dad, Tristan!" Hiakri said as she approached three graves that were next to each other. They were in a beautiful courtyard surrounded by flowers and a lovely gray fountain in the center. Near there was a small, decorative building. That was the Blackstone family crept. It had become full about 200 years before which was why most of the more recent family members were outside it. The surrounding 120 square miles were all Blackstone property and many of Hikari's relatives were buried there. She had once tried counting the graves with Tristan but there were so many that they gave up after 135. The grave site had been in the family for almost 1000 years. But Hikari didnt pay attention to the masses of other graves. There were only three that held her interest now. "I brought you flowers." She said as she knelt down beside her mother's grave. "I got Daisies for Dad, Lilacs for Mom and Sunflowers for Tristan." She placed each of the flowers in the vases and then onto the graves.
For a while, she just sat on the grass and talked about what happened in Liore and the conversation she had in the Colonel's office. She looked up at the setting sun and said, "It's getting pretty late, I should leave. I'll come back tomorrow and bring Vince and Caleb with me; they haven't seen you guys in a while." She got up to leave and suddenly stood straight up. She had seen something moving out of the corner of her eye. "Is anyone there?" She asked keeping the fear out of her voice, the seriousness of what the Colonel had said to her came flooding back. She held her breath as a figure came out from behind a tree. She let out a sigh of relief. The person standing there was a boy of a bout 15 or 16. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. "Sorry if I scared you," he said politely, "I got kinda lost, this place sure is big, isn't it?". Hikari was relieved that this boy wasn't Hunt but she was still wary of him. The place was big but the Blackstone land started almost a mile before this. He would of had to of been lost for quite a while. "Yeah, it's pretty big." She replied. The boy smiled and said, "I'm Devon DeWinters, who are you?"Hikari replied, "Hikari Blackstone." The boy's eyes lit up with understanding."Blackstone..." He said,"That's the name on all of the graves around here, visiting some old, distant relatives?"."Well, not exactly. I'm here to see my brother...and my parents." She said. The boy's face fell, "Oh, I'm really sorry if I intruded on something private...I'm here visiting my grand father...he passed away a few years ago and...like I said, I got lost." He said, "Well, I'll be going now..." He turned to leave. "Wait.". Hikari said. The boy turned. "You're looking for the DeWinter plot, right? I'm pretty sure it's nearby, I could show you there." Devon smiled and said, "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks!" "No problem."Hikari said, "Besides, it gets kinda creepy here at night and its not very safe to walk around alone." They left the area and walked for a while then Devon said, "I'm sorry but did you say your name was Hikari Blackstone?" She turned,"Yeah..." she said, a little confused, and did she know this kid from any where? "I thought so," He said smiling again. "I knew I recognized your name from some where, you're that state alchemist right? The one that they say is the youngest in the military's history?"."No, I'm not the youngest in history," she corrected him, "The Full Metal Alchemist was a state alchemist when he was 15.But yeah, i am one.". She turned to him, "You've heard of me?" "Well, yeah!" He said, still smiling. "Not many girls gain state alchemist certification at age 11!". Hikari couldn't help but blush a little. She turned away so he wouldn't notice. He did and said, "Are you blushing? Come on, you must hear flattery like this all the time from over-excited fans like myself!"."Well, you'd be surprised what people think of a woman as an alchemist. The only reason that most of the higher ups 'approve' of me is because they are way too afraid of pissing off the Furher. Since she's an alchemist. They think anything they say against me, she'll take as a personal insult." She said laughing. She was really starting to like Devon, and not because he complemented her (well, not entirely for that reason). He just gave off the vibe of being a really easy person to talk to. They talked about multiple subjects for a while and, in only what seemed like a matter of minutes, they were at the cemetery gates. "Oh! I guess we walked a little too far," Hikari said looking back, "I think we passed it and didnt notice." "It's ok." Devon said, "It's getting late and I can always come back tomorrow. Besides...it was really great talking to you. Maybe we could do this again sometime...?" Hikari laughed, "Well, I don't know the cemetery is a pretty odd place to be meeting..."."How about we meet somewhere else? Like maybe at Rita's over coffee or something?" Suggested Devon, naming one of the nearby coffee shops. Hikari thought for a minute than said, "Ok, call me when you'd like to meet there. Here's my number." She fished a scrap of paper out of her pocket and wrote her cell phone number on it. She handed it to him. He took it and said, "Ok, I'll call you later! Bye.". He turned to leave, "Bye.". Hikari said as he walked away. She then turned in the opposite direction and continued up the street.
As she was walking down the street, Hikari thought, Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give her phone number to a guy she had known for only a half hour...oh well, she could take care of herself if he didnt turn out to be safe. Hikari looked at her silver watch, Wow! Was it that late already? She had to hurry if she wanted to get to Elenea and Cid's before it got very dark out. Central was dangerous at night. She had only gone about 2 yards before she heard something behind her. She whirled around and looked behind her. No one was there. She let out a nervous laugh and said, "Come on Hikari, you're just being paranoid. No one's here." Her words weren't very convincing, even to herself. She continued walking, but was a little faster this time. "Hikari Blackstone?" A voice said. Hikari jumped slightly and looked up. A man was leaning on a brick wall ahead of her. His face looked badly scarred and he had a tattoo of a green serpent on his arm. There was no mistake; this was Jake Hunt, the assassin. "Judging by your reaction, i suppose you know who I am and why I'm here." He said, smiling slightly. Hikari said nothing; she was looking around, searching for an escape route. "Out here is a little too open? Don't you think? How about we go this way..." He motioned to a narrow ally nearby. Hikari held her ground. She knew that if she went into that ally, she was as good as dead. "Oh? Don't feel like talking to me?" He said and pulled out a gun, "That's fine, but I suggest you follow me. That is, if you want to live a little longer. Hikari maintained a calm face but inside, she was desperately trying to work out an escape plan. Okay, she said to herself, if I don't follow him, he'll shoot me and he's way too close to miss. But, if I follow him, I might get a chance to counter attack, if I try that now, he'll shoot me before I get the chance... "Fine, I'll follow you." She said slowly. "Good, you're a smart kid. This way." He said and motioned to the ally again. As Hikari had suspected, the ally led to a dead end. Maybe I could make a door with alchemy, she thought. But he would notice what I would be doing and I can't transmute a door and block a bullet at the same time! Damn! Why did I ever go out alone? "So," Hunt said, "I have orders to convince you to join the resistance movement or kill you if you refuse. I get the same amount of money either way so I don't really care what you choose. But I will say this, I can tell when people are lying so don't even think about trying to con your way out of this. So, what'll it be? The resistance or the bullet?". He waved his gun threateningly. Hikari was so surprised by his offer that lying hadn't even had time to cross her mind. She then did something that surprised both herself and Hunt, she laughed. She laughed loud and long. Not a fake, scared laugh or a mocking laugh. She laughed like some one had just said a really funny joke. "Me? Join the resistance?! That must be a joke!" Hunt had expected her to say no but he didnt expect her to laugh in his face! Who the hell was this kid who would laugh in the face of some one who would kill her? However, he smiled and said, "I take it that that means you'd rather die?" he held up his gun, "Fine then, I hope you don't regret it.". Hikari saw her chance she ran towards him and placed a hand over her right arm. Her automail arm. In a flash of blue, alchemic light, her arm became a sharp, lethal blade. Hunt, who had dodged her swing at him, said, "Automail, huh? I was wondering why the military would give a name like 'Dark Blade' to a kid like you, but now I see why." Hikari smiled slightly and said, "This is only one of the three reasons why I got the name 'Dark Blade'. The other two reasons, well, pray that you never find out."."You're bluffing, kid. I've been doing research on you and I know that your little trick with your automail is the only thing you have going!" Hunt smiled, thinking that he had just seen through a lie of Hikari's. However, Hunt didnt know that he was dead wrong about that.Hikari launched another attack. This one combined martial arts style moves with swift swings from her transmuted blade. Hunt dodged all but one, Hikari landed a strong kick on his stomach and then flipped back to avoid his retaliation. Hunt whipped out his gun and unleashed a torrent of shots on Hikari. Hikari quickly dropped to her knees and placed her hands to the ground. A wall of think concrete rose up in front of her, blocking the shots Hunt was firing. This gave Hikari long enough to come up with a plan so, when the alchemically altered wall came crashing down, Hikari used the smoke from the destroyed concrete as cover as she ran at hunt and swiped at him with her blade. Hunt dodged just enough to avoid a serious wound but Hikari caused a gash on his stomach that made it painful to move. He sank to the floor and Hikari held the blade at his throat. "Hey kid...you know I still have a gun...right? I can shoot you...before you could dodge..." Hunt said between breaths. "Wanna bet I can slit your throat faster then you can pull the trigger?" Hikari replied threateningly. "Fine, I know when I'm beaten;" He dropped his gun and held his hands up. "Look, I'm unarmed. Why don't you and I just walk away from here like nothing happened, and get on with our separate lives, huh?" Hikari bit her lip for a moment, never once taking the blade away from Hunt's throat. "Fine," she said, "But if you try anything I'll kill you, ok?" She picked up the gun he had dropped and flung it into an open gutter. She took the blade away from his throat and said, "You walk away first.". Hunt obeyed. When he was about 3 yards away, Hikari began walking in the opposite direction. She had barely gone 2 feet when she heard the gunshot.
Hunt had been planning on just walking away, he really had, but he had discovered a spare gun on him and this would damage his 100 success rate so...He had turned around and shot at Hikari. Hikari, hearing the gunshot a split second before the bullet hit her, had sidestepped it to avoid a serious injury but it had hit her left shoulder, causing nothing life threatening, but a great deal of pain. Hunt seeing that he had missed, began firing off shots, all directed at Hikari. Hikari, being almost completely exhausted already, only had time to raise a single, thin concrete wall with alchemy. The wall shattered and Hikari was hit by one of the larger falling pieces. She lost consciousness. Her last thoughts before giving into sleep were, I'm going to die. Its really going to happen...Vince...Caleb...
Hunt had seen her fall and thought, well, looks like my lucks changing! I only have a few bullets left and I'll only need one to finish her off in this state...He lifted his gun and aimed at the unconscious girl. At that moment, something strange happened. A figure in dark clothes had suddenly stepped into his line of fire. "Hey, you! Are you a freakin moron or something!!??Cant ya see I'm busy?!" The figure looked up. Hunt noticed that his face was covered by a black hood. The figure spoke, he said," I'll give you one warning, go home now. Leave the girl alone and I won't hurt you." Hunt sneered, "Why should I listen to you? I'm the one with the gun! You're in no position to make bargains, buddy!"."Oh, I think we are..." Said a voice behind Hunt. He turned. There was a boy of about 12-years-old with black hair and unusual purple eyes. "What the hell...?What's a kid doing here...?"Hunt said, confused. The boy smiled. It was a mocking, evil smile. He said, "I'm not just a kid but, if you know what's good for you, you'll stop asking questions.". Hunt pointed the gun at him. "Attacking a girl and now you're pointing a gun at an unarmed minor? Where is your honor?" The boy said mockingly. Hunts eyes narrowed. He said, "Shut up you little brat! Or I'll shoot you!"."Oh? Into threats now are we? I ask again, have you no honor?" That was the last straw for Hunt. He shot at the boy. The bullet hit the boy right between his eyes, there was no way he could take it and live. He fall backwards and lay motionless on the ground. "That's what you get for mouthing of to your betters! I hope the resistance will pay extra for the hell I had to go through to get this done..." As Hunt spoke, something happened to the boy's body. The blood receded and the hole seemed to heal right before his eyes. The boy's eyes opened and he stood up. And, to Hunt's horror, he spoke, "What was that for? And what was that you said about you being my better?". Hunt was speechless he just stared at the boy in open mouthed horror. "W-what are you?!" He managed to gasp out. The boy ignored him and looked at the other figure and said, "Pride, this guy shot me, can I please kill him now?" The figure called Pride seemed to be lost in thought but registered the boy's request. "Fine, Greed. If that's what makes you happy..." "Thank you!!" He said and turned to Hunt with an evil grin. "You're dead." Hunt did the first thing that came into his mind, he ran. Greed watched him for a moment and said, "Jeez, humans are so stupid, does he really believe he can get away just by running?" He turned to Pride. Pride hadn't heard him; he was bent over Hikari, treating her wounds. Greed snorted and chased after Hunt.
He didnt have to go far, Hunt's fight with Hikari had left him weak and semi-defenseless. Greed found him less then a block away. "Found you." He said to Hunt who was in such a shock that he couldn't speak. Greed pulled a knife from his pocket and swiftly slit Hunt's throat. "Oh, and to answer your earlier question, I'm what's called a Homunculus." He picked up Hunt's cold body and went back to meet Pride. He found him still bent over Hikari, trying to stop the blood coming from her shoulder wound. "Why did you bring the body back?" He asked as Greed approached. "I was thinking Gluttony might want a snack later, it's been a while since he's had human flesh and besides, we have to get rid of the body somehow." Greed replied. "So, what's the deal with the girl? She gonna live? Cause if she doesn't, the master's gonna be pretty pissed." Pride stood up. "Yeah, she'll live but she needs to get to a hospital." He picked up Hikari gently. "There's one nearby, we can just drop her off there and leave before anyone asks any questions." "I guess..." said Greed, "But it would be a pain if she woke up on the way...The master said that she can't find out about us. At least until we're sure she'll be on our side."."If we hurry, we'll get there before she wakes up." Pride said as he started to carry Hikari to the hospital. He moved with such speed that it would seem as though Hikari only weighed a few pounds. Greed followed him thinking, do you want her to live because the master says so, or is there a different reason, Pride?