When morning came, I woke before everyone else. Ed must have been tired from the long trips and getting his arm worked on, and Al must have worried himself to sleep. But I smiled softly at my two younger brothers, knowing they were the only family I had. Since I decided I would let them sleep a bit longer, I got up and got ready for the day. Then I walked out of the room and started making my way to see the Colonel. I knew that he would want to send us somewhere now that we were back, so I figured I'd start making my way over.
This morning felt a bit off. Maybe it had to do with my encounter last night in the library, or what I had heard later that night, but something was making things off. Everyone was doing their normal things, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly. So what was making today feel odd? I was hoping that my day would get better after I talked to Mustang at least.
Once at the military base in Central, I noticed Lieutenant Hawkeye on the stairs to the main building. As I walked passed, she looked up from what she was doing and seemed to be surprised.
"Wave Alchemist Kai Elric," She said with a salute. I returned the salute and wondered why she stopped me like that.
"Colonel Mustang wants to see you and the Fullmetal Alchemist at once. Where's Ed?" She looked around, wondering why I was here on my own.
"Ed and Al are still both sleeping. Ed must have been very tired after the train rides and also having his arm completely worked on. I decided to let them sleep some more. Whatever the Colonel needs from us, I'm sure I can handle it on my own," I said with a sly smile and Hawkeye sighed.
"Very well sir, come this way," She said and started leading the way through the building. It didn't take long until Major Armstrong appeared and greeted me like he did everyone; full of excitement. Hawkeye turned and watched, sighing softly to herself.
Once we had left Armstrong, Hawkeye brought me to the Colonel's room. She knocked on the door, and we heard "come in" from beyond. When she opened the door, we both stepped inside and Mustang was working on something on his desk.
"Kai.. And where is Fullmetal? I had orders for both of you to be here," Mustang said after he looked up. Hawkeye had left the room already and I sighed softly.
"We had a long few days and Ed didn't get much sleep. I let him sleep more. I'm sure I can handle whatever it is you have to talk about sir," I said looking at Mustang. He raised an eyebrow, but then nodded and stood from his chair.
"Very well. I need you and Ed to head to a small town west of here. It's called Lawnson. We have reports that the one who's been killing State Alchemists is out there. Head that way and see if you can get any leads," Mustang explained as he looked down at one of his papers. I nodded and turned to exit the room.
"And Kai, make sure that you two keep your pocket-watches hidden," He added and I gave him another nod. With a salute, I turned and walked out of the room. Mustang sat back in his chair and sighed softly
Back at the room, Ed and Al had both woken up and noticed I was gone. Ed looked around to see if I left them a note, but didn't find anything.
"I wonder where Kai went this time. And I thought I was the one for running off," Ed said with a slight laugh. But Al looked over at him and sighed.
"Brother, last night Kai came home late. He was wounded. It seemed he had been stabbed," Al said looking at Ed. Ed was shocked, then they both heard the door and turned. I walked in and they both seemed surprised.
"Hey, what's wrong with you two?" I asked looking at them. They both noticed I seemed to be alright, despite what Al had told Ed.
"Kai, are you alright? You came home last night wounded," Al stood and looked at me. I sighed softly, but then gave them both a nod.
"I'm fine guys. But I just finished talking with Mustang. He wants to head to Lawnson. Guess they got a report about the one who's been killing State Alchemists," I explained as I sat down on my bed. Ed sat up and looked at me a bit surprised.
"Is that all he told you?" He asked me.
"Yeah, he didn't say much. He just wants us to go take a look and see if we can get any leads," I said and Ed just nodded.
"Ed, Kai, I'll be right back," Al suddenly said and left. We both watched him a bit surprised, but then Ed relaxed.
"Probably off to get us some food or something," Ed said and I rolled my eyes at him. Ed didn't seem to worry about things as much, but he didn't always notice things that often either. And Al was trying to look out for us a lot, so he paid more attention to things. But since Ed was asleep when I came home last night, he didn't see what my wound actually looked like.
"So why was Al talking about a wound you got? What were you doing last night?" Ed soon asked and looked at me. I sighed softly and looked down at the ground, thinking of last night.
"I went to the library for a book on the Philosopher's Stone; one that I knew was there. But I couldn't find it. The doors to the east room were open, so I went in. Inside I was attacked by a woman who called herself Lust. She-she was able to grow her nails as sharp as a blade, and she stabbed one through my back. Then she told me that I had to make them a Stone. I don't know who she meant by they, but I did over hear her talking to talking to some strange man. His eyes were pure white," I said and Ed raised his eyebrow. He was also confused by what had happened.
"Anything else?" Ed asked, trying to figure out what she wanted with the Stone.
"No. The only thing I can think of is she had a strange tattoo on her chest. Otherwise, she looked like she was a normal human," I said. Thinking of last night made me feel pain on my wound, but I didn't let that show. I knew I shouldn't be worrying over that.
After a few minutes, Al returned with two bags of things for our trip. I smiled softly and nodded at the two of them. They finished getting their things together, and we started making our way to the train station. There wasn't any train to Lawnson, so we would take one from Central to Caliun. From there we would have to find another form of transportation to continue on to Lawnson. I figured I'd be able to get us a truck that Al could fit in.
At the station, I bought us three tickets to Caliun. The train wasn't going to arrive for another fifteen minutes, so we all took a seat on the benches at the end of the platform. There were a few other people on the platform, but we didn't stay near them. We usually kept to ourselves in places like this, especially when we had a mission to go on.
"So what are we going to do when we get to Lawnson?" Al asked looking over at me. I looked back at him and shrugged softly.
"I'm not sure. We don't have that much information on the guy we're looking for. I'm sure the first thing we'll do is get a hotel to stay in for the night, then start looking around," I said to Al and he nodded softly. Ed was looking at the tracks, lost in thought about a few things.
"Hey brother, what are you thinking about?" Al asked now looking at Ed. Ed suddenly seemed to wake up and jumped a little, then he turned to Al and sighed.
"It's nothing Al. Just got a little lost in my thoughts," Ed said softly, but then gave Al a gentle smile. I watched the both of them for a minute, then turned my attention to the other people on the platform. They all seemed to be waiting for the train to go nowhere. Each person had a blank look on their face as they stood impatiently on the platform.
"This is going to be a long trip," I said softly and sighed, sitting back on the bench as we waited for the train.