(Note: I don't own FMA, only Jeff and Aurum. Wolfborg007 owns Arturo.)
Chapter 4
"Hunting Nothing"
Jeff hovered towards the ground, gently placing the other applicant on the dusty floor of the testing room before landing himself. He placed his hand on one of the wings, and the runes on his hands glowed brightly, the wings compressed down and reverted to a handful of seeds.
He looked over at everyone who had watched him fly. He saw a sea of faces that were dumbfounded; except for Arturo, who wore his usual smirk.
Jeff looked down at the seeds, beamed with a kind of satisfaction and put them in his pocket. As he busied himself with the transmutation, he didn't notice the Fuhrer had opened his eye and was staring at Jeff with a look of suspicion.
This boy, he is going to be trouble if we let him continue doing as he wants. He was able to do an impossible technique, he could wreck all the years of planning. Damn that Zero; this is why I don't like leaving tasks to humans, the Fuhrer thought, leaning back in his chair. If I pass him, he'll just become a nuisance; but if I don't, some of the ignorant officers will question things…
However, before anything could be noticed, the Fuhrer quickly put on his cheerful façade. "Well, I believe that we have come to a decision. Congratulations, Mr. Kaiser. You are now a State Alchemist."
Jeff turned to the judges and, even though he was almost bursting with joy, he managed to contain himself as he silently bowed in gratitude. Inside his mind, he was going crazy; it was enough to keep him in great spirits for the rest of his life, and for the rest of the week, he relived that moment over and over, grinning like a fool the whole time.
~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~
((2 weeks later))
Jeff was assigned to move in with Arturo in the barracks; much to Arturo's chagrin. He got over it after the first few days, when Arturo realized that Jeff was a neat freak, except for his desk.
"Hey Arturo, my pocket-watch and official state certification letter just got in," Jeff said excitedly, entering the room.
"Big whoop, you're acting like this is the first time it's ever happened," Arturo replied nonchalantly from his desk in the corner of the room.
"Can you be a little less excited for me? I finally got my Alchemist title and you're practically grabbing the letter out of my hand," Jeff said, attempted sarcasm dripping from his tone.
"You still need some work with your sarcasm, but I can't work miracles. Just open the letter."
Jeff opened the letter, and he began reading it aloud.
"Under the authority of Fuhrer King Bradley, the name 'Angel Alchemist' will be granted to Jeffrey Kaiser…" He shut his eyes tightly after reading the last line.
What was the Furhrer THINKING?! That's such a-a girl's name! How on earth are people gonna take me serious with a name like that?
This thoughts then turned to his roomate's reaction…
Dammit…
Slowly, he turned to look towards Arturo, carefully opening one eye, afraid of his reaction. Just as he expected, a snicker emerged from Arturo's lips, and the older alchemist was obviously trying to hold back laughter… but he failed miserably.
"ANGEL ALCHEMIST!" he laughed, putting a hand to his forehead, "I guess that was the only way they could even try to make you sound cool; and they FAILED! You-you might as well be called the 'Bend-Me-Over-Alchemist!'"
Arturo continued laughing; relishing in the humiliation of his young roommate.
"B-but seriously! What was the Fuhrer thinking with that kind of a name? Is he out to get me?" Jeff asked gripping his head in disbelief, still clutching the letter tightly in his right hand.
"All I know is that Angel is one of the worst names for you; considering you act so much like a little bitch already… and you're essentially a demon all the other times!" Arturo spoke through his laughter.
"Are you done?" Jeff asked, rolling his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest.
"No, never. I may stop laughing, but I'll never stop enjoying this," Arturo said, finally calming down.
"Well, back to the matter at hand…" he muttered, " I'm now a State Alchemist, so I can get into the Central Library and do all the research I can on Zero and Runes,"
He folded up the letter and put the silver-watch in his pocket.
"Yeah, speaking about the Runes, you still have to tell me about them," Arturo reminded him, matter-of-factly.
"No time, the library is going to be closing in a little while. I want to get this done today," Jeff said, rushing out the door without another word.
~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~
"Alright, let's see here…Zero Medea, better known as the 'Null-Void Alchemist'. It says here that he was a State Alchemist who achieved the rank of Colonel before he was dishonorably discharged from the military for conspiring against the State," Jeff read to himself, using his index finger to trace the line as he read.
He paused in his reading as he came across a few lines that captured his interest in the military records.
"This is weird…" Jeff thought, scratching his head, "It says that he never had any history of killing outside of his orders, yet after he was discharged from the military, he has become one of the most wanted criminals for killing several known alchemists."
I wonder if they had anything in common…
Standing up, Jeff went over and, after scanning the shelves of all the records, he found what he was looking for and grabbed the record of the people that Zero had killed. As he went down the list, he noticed the victims were all people he had met when he was younger. But his eyes widened as he came to the bottom of the list… because it was there that he found the familiar names of his parents. He took a shuddering breath as his eyes wandered to the runes on the back of his right hand… the cold reminder of his ruined childhood.
"Perhaps I should research this circle, maybe that will give me an answer to why he killed my family," Jeff said quietly to himself.
He searched the shelves once again, until he found a book on unorthodox transmutation circles. Flipping through the pages, he came across a circle that resembled the one on his hand.
His eyes darted between the picture and his own hand, just making sure that he had the right one, down to the smallest detail of the circle.
In alchemy, details were always important… if one millimeter was off, it could backfire and cause the wrong reaction… which had a whole plethora of bad consequences.
"This looks like the circle, but it's made up differently."
After flipping the page, he began reading about that particular circle.
"This circle…it's an emblem to a tower. 'The Sorcerer Tower is a legend that nobody has been able to prove, although many archaeologists have fervently searched for it. The tower is said to lie beneath the ground at the cross-point of the four Southwestern caverns.' That's weird, if it's that easy to find, then why hasn't it been found?" Jeff asked himself curiously.
The young state alchemist gave a sigh, leaned back in his chair, and caught a glimpse of the list of victims. Sitting up straight, he glanced over the list once again and was hit with the realization that each of the victims had been close to one of the caverns.
"Maybe there is something to this legend after all," Jeff said, absolutely intrigued.
~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~
"So…you're going to the Southwestern area… which, by the way, is the size of Ishval, to look for one guy, who has most likely moved on?" Arturo questioned skeptically.
"Are you going to come along or not?" Jeff asked, shoving some canned food and more water bottles into his backpack.
"Hmm…" Arturo thought to himself, tapping his lips lightly with his index finger as he pondered the idea, "Go to an area where nothing exciting happens, except for murder in order to help you do the same…"
Jeff lowered his gaze slightly.
"Fine, don't come along then... I guess you'll never learn about Runes," Jeff said with a sigh, "Especially if I don't come back from this dangerous mission…"
Arturo twitched slightly as he started to become extremely agitated. He still hadn't kept up his part of the bargain, and he didn't like being tugged around like some mutt on a short rope…even if he did become a state alchemist.
"Well, I could always ask that cousin of yours to help me; you know the one who you're always talking about. Maybe I could even tell him what you really think of him; I'm sure helping to catch a mass murderer would help him-"
Arturo let out a small growl,
"Fine… you're gonna need some extra ears to gather the information anyway…" he muttered, "It'll take you years to get all of it, and you may even be useful to me at some point… I'll tag along…"
Jeff grinned satisfied, knowing full well how to tug his partner's strings. He was obviously pissed, but he knew Arturo… he'd get over it.
~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~
They took the train to the West, where they were met with miles of forest.
Arturo gave a sigh, suddenly regretting the decision to leave his cushy office in Central command (and the women… oh, he missed the women already) to go on a man hunt.
"Let's go!" Jeff said, immediately taking off without any hesitation.
Arturo gave a sigh, just following after him…already sweating from the heat.
Three days passed, and all they saw were trees.
Jeff's eyes widened as he saw the shimmering shape of a village emerging in the horizon.
"Hey! There's a village over there!" Jeff exclaimed joyfully, "Come on, we can restock up on our supplies and maybe get some more information!"
The younger alchemist continued plodding through the dirt, with Arturo following beside him.
He just wanted to rest… he didn't share his friend's enthusiasm for this whole trek… but he didn't want his cousin out of the tavern just yet.
There's no way in hell Little Roy is ready for something like this… he thought to himself.
As they entered the village, Jeff spotted a man wiping down the counter of a nearby food vendor.
"Maybe he can tell us anything about Zero!" he said, walking over to the salesman.
The man looked up, his blond hair blowing in the breeze.
"Can I help you, kid?" he asked.
"We're wondering if you have any information about a guy named Zero… he's an alchemist… one for the State… could you tell me if you've maybe seen him?" Jeff asked.
"Well, about a week ago, there was a drifter wandering around the village. People would ask him what he was doing, but even though he didn't say too much, he told them he was an archaeologist researching the old cavern nearby," the man replied.
Jeff's enthusiasm seemed to grow and he smiled.
"Thank you, you've been very helpful," he said, bowing his head in gratitude.
They then walked off further into the depths of the village.
"You really need to stop bowing your head all the time. The more you do that, the more guys will think you're checking them out or something," Arturo said to Jeff.
"Stop being such a jerk…" Jeff retorted with an angry gaze, "That guy gave us the information we needed, and it only took us three days,"
"Yeah, well, the sooner we get to the cavern, the sooner you tell me about Runes. I didn't expect you to dodge important issues or… you know…a DEBT!" Arturo snapped.
"I'm getting to it; if I just tell you right now, you'd think I'm crazy," Jeff retorted.
Arturo gave a snort.
"Too late for that…" Arturo muttered.
~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~
The two wandered through the nearby woods, not realizing that the map the townsperson gave them was written backwards.
"We're getting close, right?" Arturo said as he felt his temper become strained again.
"I have a feeling that someone got the wrong map," Jeff said glancing back at Arturo.
He glared daggers at him as he silently blamed the older alchemist for getting a flawed map.
Just as they were staring each other down in a standoff, a man appeared from the foliage and approached them.
"You two lost?" the man inquired, looking between them.
Jeff and Arturo turned towards the man and gave a synchronized nod.
"My name is Aurum. If you two are looking for the town, I'd be glad to help you reach it. I'm headed that way myself."
"We're actually trying to get to the old cavern," Jeff said to Aurum. "We're searching for someone named Zero… Supposedly, he was seen near the cavern a week ago, and we're looking for clues."
Aurum's cheery disposition melted at the instant Jeff mentioned the name Zero. Without warning, he lunged at the two alchemists, his hands open and outstretched in front of him. Arturo reacted quickly getting in-between Aurum and Jeff. Aurum's palm hit Arturo's forehead, to which Arturo quickly leaned in and forced his fist into the man's gut, making him fall to the ground.
"Just who are you?" Jeff asked as he stepped back in cautious surprise.
Arturo raised his hand to Jeff, silencing him.
The pair watched as Aurum slowly got to his feet and put his hands behind his back. He smiled and looking up, he spoke calmly.
"I'm nothing more than a traveling hypnotist."
At that, Arturo turned around quickly snapped his fingers, causing a large bolt of lightning to fly in Jeff's direction. With the impact of the blue bolt of electricity, smoke rose and a purple rune started to glow on Arturo's forehead, pulsing lightly.