Chapter 7: Cherry Blossoms

-Xing's Imperial Palace-

Ling and Lan Fan sat on an ornate stone dragon bench underneath a cherry tree in full bloom. Petals blew through the air shielding them from view while Al and Mei sparred. A gust of wind lifted most of the petals in the air revealing the two kissing beneath the tree. Al's jaw dropped when he saw them and he missed deflecting one of Mei's attacks.

Al was thrown into the air by the force of the attack, but he quickly gained control of his fall landing on his feet. Mei turned to see what Al was jaw-dropping at when she saw Ling and Lan Fan, she thought wistfully if she could ever have that with Alphonse. A tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away before Al would notice.

Al had never had a girlfriend yet and a pang of yearning stuck in his throat. Some servants walked over to Ling and Lan Fan and told them it was time for lunch. Ling called out to Al and Mei, "It's time for lunch." "Ok," they yelled back. They walked through the castle until they reached the dining hall and they took their seats. Lin and Lan Fan were conversing with Roy and Riza about adult matters; Al noticed something circular glittering on the two girl's fingers from the sunshine leaking in from the windows in the hall.

"You all have rings on your fingers," inquired Alphonse. A wave of tension gripped everyone in the room until Riza spoke, "They are called engagement rings, and I'm getting married to Roy." "You could have told us," replied Mei crossly. "I thought you would have noticed and we forgot about telling you when Desolation and the other sins appeared," Roy said.

"It doesn't matter, we shouldn't be mad we should be happy for your guys," replied Al, but he still felt hurt by their decision not to tell him. A servant brought a letter to Roy and said, "It's a letter from Amestris, Fuhrer Mustang." Roy opened the letter and read aloud:

Fuhrer Mustang,

The girls are still nice in Central, and my lower body is moving fine now if you know what I mean. Grumman told me to remind you to hurry and up and come home so he can spend time with his granddaughter. Oh, and the Spring Ball is coming up so bring back your special person, aka Riza so we can watch you dance now that you're Fuhrer.

From,

Jean Havoc

Roy closed the letter and Riza was bright red and Ling and Al were roaring with laughter at the couple's embarrassment. "Well we should be leaving soon," said Riza. "We're all coming with you; we wouldn't miss a chance to go on an adventure like the days before the Promised Day," replied Ling. "Yeah just like before the Promised Day," muttered Al to himself.

-Abandoned Ruins-

Desolation healed Fury's wounds and Glory and Spite chose their weapons and prepared to leave the ruined citadel. Desolation stood up and Fury grabbed a slender long gold staff. The storm glided towards the city. Wind chimes clanged and chinked through the increasing breeze. Thunder boomed in the sky above the palace and four small tornadoes touched down outside of the palace.

-Imperial Palace-

Desolation moved his hand and some darkness formed two whips tipped with titanium and infused with Desolation's destructive power. He slashed the whips in wide arcs across the gates disintegrating them into ash. Annoyed by the petals billowing in his face his whip flashed lightning quick and raked the tree trunk carving a crest so deep sap flooded out of it. The petals, leaves, and flowers withered and blackened sinking to the ground and turned to ash. Soldiers raced for them and Fury swung her staff pulsating with electricity and said, "Boys do you know what a good conductor is, metal."

She slammed it into a soldier's chest sending electricity through him and stopped his heart, his limp body crashed to the ground and his last breath left his corpse. Fury dealt with several more soldiers the same way and laughed mirthlessly and rose her staff to the sky and lightning struck it. She refrained herself from killing everyone but the surge of adrenaline pulsed through her growing stronger with each kill, with each kill the feeling of no regret or remorse, with each kill her lust for murder grew stronger, with each kill her insanity went to bat-shit crazy.