A/N: It's Chapter 2, it's here. I know that the cliffhanger might have seemed a bit sudden, and so might the whole situation, but it just happened. Things will be explained. As for the content of this chapter, it introduces a woman I really love - D'Alma Ulmo - who will play big parts in the future, and also partially introduces two other characters, also important in the future.
Enjoy this chapter.
:xx- CHAPTER II –xx:
[ café d'ulmo ]
"Freedom! Give us our freedom!"
Freedom, huh?
They were outraged. Those people who've made the vendors scatter. It was clear to see that the source of the mass insecurity was not that officer, the poor rag doll who now laid in a pool of blood in the middle of the improvised market. More voices exclaimed the same line as once, expecting reinforcements, but as the number of armed people grew nobody came. And they wanted… freedom?
"Brother…" Al whispered under his breath, snapping Ed abruptly from his thoughts. He slowly glanced at his brother, both affected and not by what happened – at the same time. Ed nodded slowly and peeked up from one of the stands, scanning the zone. Quickly, he pulled himself back in their hideout.
"They're still there," he said lowly, much to Al's concern.
"Yeah," Al replied and clenched his hands around his knees, "I can hear them."
Ed frowned, "How do we manage to always end up in situations like this?"
Al let out a small chuckle, which resembled actually more a giggle, but it was low enough to only leave a surprised Ed glance at him. "I guess one of us is a bad luck bringer, then."
Ed wondered… did they end up in the middle of a civil war? Or, to make the situation less dramatic, could it be a mere violent manifestation of some protesters of sorts? Well, whichever it was, it was clear that he and Al had to think of a good way of getting out of there. He glanced behind and saw that at a distance of a couple of stands there was a building. With some help from Alchemy, they could make a door and escape. He couldn't help but pull a face.
Alchemy…Ed mused with a childish melancholy.
"Do you have an idea?" Al questioned, growing visibly more frustrated as the attackers advanced into the square. Ed nodded hesitatingly.
The older Elric only managed to open his lips when the fire started. His eyes stretched wide and it was a life-saver instinct when he fell down on his stomach, dragging Al down after him.
"W-what's going on?!" Al exclaimed, crossing his arms over the top of his head.
"Hell if I know," Ed replied through his teeth. He struggled to get a peek through the stand which collapsed on the ground and broke. He managed to notice, besides the rather average looking people, some who wore white clothes, which led him to the possibility of those people wearing uniforms.
"Local military…?" Al wondered silently, his voice hiding any sort of hint of panic.
The fallen wooden stand blew up completely and the two rolled over, to avoid any pieces from getting, most of all, into their eyes.
"Get up, now!" a male exclaimed.
Ed shuffled up to his feet, holding his arms up in defense as he tried to brush the little sprains from his black coat. He rolled his eyes over the figure which stood before him coolly, keeping a gun pointed in his direction. It was one of the people dressed in white. Ed processed in his head the words he should say.
"Are you from the military? I think you – "
"Shut up!"
Ed's fingers twitched, for a moment he was tempted to pull a move that was meant to disarm the man. It was risky, however, and as Ed scanned the zone properly, he could tell that there were too many people he'd have to run from.
He frowned, jumping in a semi-offensive state, "Look, you're making a big mistake – "
"Lichbein!" the man called, in a ragged voice, "Come over here, I got one!"
"What?!" Ed jolted, "You got my ass, you little – "
And suddenly, he was almost knocked over on the ground by a specimen in full speed movement. Lucky enough, Ed wasn't one to not have experience in situations like this.
"Come on, Brother! I don't think these guys are willing to negotiate anything," Al called out and kept dragging the other after him.
"For someone who didn't have his own legs for some years, you are pretty fast," Ed remarked as he glanced over his shoulder. It allowed him to locate the origins of the bullets which started to be projected towards him and Al, and therefore to dodge them or at least get in hiding behind or under something.
Al stopped abruptly from his run; he clapped his palms and then pressed them against the ground, lifting a wall – not too high, but wide enough to form a barrier between both shooter categories.
"Alphonse, good job!" Ed exclaimed with a jump, holding a thumb up and a grin on his face. Then Al stood up before the other, with a grave expression on his face.
"You did not get your Alchemy back?!" he cried out and Ed simply blinked, puzzled. "What happened?"
Ed lowered his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets. During this year and a half, he'd only talked to Al once. They've promised each other to not communicate and watch out for their own lives in their journeys, but it was a pretty… critical moment for Ed at that time. And he just had to call his brother and tell about him and Winry. It really wasn't as dramatic, not even half, as Ed made the whole situation seem. But it was enough to stop him from paying anymore visits to his childhood friend since then. However, Al never found out about the Alchemy.
"I don't think it's the place to be talking about this," Ed grumbled.
A shot echoed in the air between them. Ed's heart stopped for a moment and he turned to face Al, who was dumbfounded. A thin red line formed on his cheek, letting a drop of blood gently drip down his creamy skin, which turned briefly as cold as a snow layer.
"Quickly," Ed breathed out and pulled Al towards him, "Do something!"
It was too late, obviously too late to run away anymore. All the masses were after them – as if any kind of conflict that they had simply vanished, with their sole purpose being to hunt down the Elric brothers. Al clapped his hands, but he didn't get to do anymore movements.
He winced, a bullet shooting right into one of his palms. As he got separated from Ed, he started a seemingly long process of falling down on the ground. He managed to keep his eyes focused on Ed and…
Al gulped bitterly.
Ed was foolish enough to try and defend himself with his right arm. That was all. Al felt his head hit a solid object and the image blurred. Lastly, he could hear Ed's winces and groans as he called out his name. It felt like that time, when his brother almost gave up his heart to get his body back.
Al's lip corners twitched in an ironic smile as he blacked out… Ed returned his body so this would happen?
...
His eyes fluttered open slowly. He had to blink a few times to adjust the image. It was a bit dark… did he go blind? Nah, it was brown. It seemed like a ceiling. It seemed too nice to be the ceiling of a prison, even though there would be no sense in being there. His right hand stretched out slowly, but he stopped with a flinch.
Goddamn… it hurts, he thought and moved the other hand up to pull a piece of cloth off of his forehead. He sat up slowly, inspecting the surroundings and the first thing he noticed was the velvet colored couch he was laid on. And secondly, he saw the fancy chandelier which hung above his head. The third thing he saw…
"Brother, you're awake," Al said with a helpless smile, from a couch opposing his.
Ed sighed, "Where the hell are we?"
There was heard a crash, which sent a chilling vibe down Ed's spine.
"You don't refer to my place with the word hell, you little brat…" It was a demon. It came from the deepest pits of the Hell and it transformed Ed into a fluid thing which cascaded down on the floor.
"Yes, ma'am…" he uttered absently.
Ed's life flashed before his eyes. And, in all its honesty, he thought there couldn't be any worse than Olivier Mira Armstrong and Izumi Curtis. But this voice belonged to a woman, too. It was pretty clear that women were all demons sent on Earth to terrorize the life out of Edward Elric.
"Get up from my carpet!" the crash was heard again and –
Ed shot up to his feet, standing straight.
Al toppled over the edge of the couch and hit the ground with a thud. He quickly stood up also, wincing and balancing from one leg to another. "Yes ma'am! Sorry ma'am!"
The woman stared at them with icy, pitch black eyes. Her hair was of a light grey, long and caught in a pony-tail. Interesting enough, she didn't look old whatsoever. She seemed to only be in her 40's or maybe even younger. All over her right arm there was an abstract tattoo, none of the two brothers being able to put his finger on it. She sighed and lifted a cigarette to her lips.
"Sit down, you're injured," she said and the two obeyed, basically knocking themselves against the couches. She opened an eye and looked at the stiff boys. Her eyes narrowed, "Don't stay still like ice cubes, idiots."
Ed and Al winced –
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Sorry, ma'am!"
She pulled a chair towards her and arched an eyebrow, bending over her own leg. A smirk appeared on her face as she scanned the two intently. "What do we have here, huh?"
Ed blinked at Al, then a bit hesitant, he decided to reply, "We're Edward and Alphonse Elric." That's all that he decided to say. He wasn't sure how they ended up here, or who this woman was or what was this place… it instantly meant that she wasn't trustworthy.
"Seems like you got plenty of questions up ya heads," she remarked with a shrug. Ed opened his mouth, but she held up a hand as she inhaled some of her cigarette. "You're from Amestris, right?"
The boys nodded slowly.
She hurtled her cigarette away and skewed her head, "It's only fair to reply to you with my name. It's what you guys call it there, 'equivalent exchange' – "
"What?" Ed jumped, "Don't you also have Alchemy?"
The woman narrowed her eyes darkly, the older Elric slouching his shoulders and shuddering at the sight. "Equivalent exchange, brat. It should have been Alchemy stuff for other Alchemy stuff. In this case, it's name for name. My name is D'Alma Ulmo. Friends call me Alma. You're not my friends, so call me madam Ulmo or just madam."
Al gave a quick frightened look towards Ed, who seemed to be a lot busier studying the zone. It had a counter, with a shelf for all kinds of spices and drinks. Moreover, there were little round tables and chairs both inside and outside. All tables had menus on top of them.
"And this is my café," Alma said suddenly, in a voice that made the two jump. It was a situation where they felt like little lambs inside the wolf's nest. She looked at them curiously, they looked at her desperately… and she started laughing.
Ed pulled a face, blinking multiple times. Al leaned towards him slowly and whispered, "…This is even scarier." With a nod, Ed agreed, his fingers dug into the couch.
She stopped laughing with a snort, leaning her jaw against her knuckles. "You two are adorable," she said with a grin. Powders of red color crossed their faces and their heads began spinning. Ed was definitely freaked out and Al was simply… lost. Alma slid up from her chair, patting the counter proudly.
"Café D'Ulmo – it's our family business, almost as old as Aerugo itself. The name runs along with fame. We're famous for the great cappuccinos, the coffees and the cakes… well, basically for everything," she paused, looking as if she'd just realized something. Curiously, she looked at Ed and Al, "Would you like to taste an overpriced sample?"
Ed looked at Al, Al gulped at Ed. Then they looked at Alma and they swore her eyes had almost shined. "Yes, madam Ulmo, we'd love an overpriced sample!"
Alma snickered again, knocking her fist against a bell on the counter, "Good boys then…" – her voice rose at the next line – "Charlotte! Cedric! Whoever it is, come and serve our new customers!"
"Hey, madam…" Ed started lowly, getting a stoic look from Alma, "Can I ask you something?"
She looked at him intently, eventually approaching the two and taking a seat again in her finely sculptured chair. She crossed her legs and narrowed her eyes, which had a very Xingese vibe to them. "It depends," she retorted coolly.
Ed furrowed his brows, his eyes glistening from the reflection of the light which passed through the chandelier's crystals. "Who are you? Why are we here? What happened?"
There was a moment of sudden movement on Alma's part, which could be translated as if she was just about to smack Ed for his 'imprudence' and persistence. However, she had to settle with a sigh as she rubbed at her temple. "It's your right to know, after all…" she mumbled and Ed confirmed with a firm nod.
"I've already told you who I am – "
Ed opened his mouth and she held up a finger, "Nah! This is all you need to know. And then, you are here because I've managed to convince the Intern Corpse of your good intentions. And what happened is…" she stopped when a girl entered the room, absently gazing at the tray she was holding.
The girl had chocolate brown hair, which reached her chin, with two little braids coming from the sides of her fringe – they were almost reaching her shoulders – and light hazel eyes. As she put the tray down, starting to hand a cup and a muffin to each, Al and Ed found themselves staring oddly at her… she left the impression of an empty doll.
"What did you give them?" Alma inquired and the girl moved aside, "Ah, I see… Mint hot chocolate and lemon muffin, then cinnamon coffee and dark chocolate for the short one."
Ed slammed his cup against the table, his teeth gritting, Short?! SHORT?! How the hell am I short now?! You little hag… Al squeezed his shoulders, smiling nervously, "Brother… you're just shorter than me… that's all…"
Then Al turned his attention towards Alma, leaving his brother fume in the background. His eyes traveled unwillingly towards the girl as he spoke, "You've mentioned 'Intern Corpse'? What's that?"
"First things first," Alma said and lit up another cigar, "Alphonse, this is my niece – Charlotte." Al blushed and stammered for a moment, but let it pass since Alma didn't seem to be too impressed with reactions like those. She continued, "Charlotte, these are Edward and Alphonse Elric. Meeting done." She blew out some smoke before watching for a moment the men in white uniforms march by.
"These guys deal with conflicts within the country."
A/N: Ed and Al fans who are curious about their journeys, I will review the things they've experienced each later on. It might seem a bit confusing that Ed had a 'thing' with Winry and that he couldn't get his Alchemy back... no problems, I'll get back to it. Until the next chapter, then.
Don't forget to review! :)