Hi! Sorry for the delay!
Like I said on my profile page, there are a lot of event's happening in the area this summer, so I've been busy away from my beloved computer most of the time!
So here is next chapter!
Not a lot of Roy presence here, sorry, but hey, that's the problem with him working in the office, while the Elric are working around the country...
Chapter VIII: Spring 1914
Unsurprisingly, it had been that moment FullMetal had chosen to barge in, loudly yelling "I knew it! Molester! Let go of my sister!"
The next moment he was dodging a fireball – right into the path of one of his sister's knives, and letting out a whine "Ari..." a glare "You've corrupted her, damn bastard!"
As for the rest of the team, they were enjoying the drama, Riza coughing a bit before stating sweetly "Colonel... Remember what I said?"
"Age of consent, lieutenant Hawkeye, I know." sighted the man in answer, making Ariana laugh from her position in a chair, Roy regretfully stepping away from her "But I didn't do anything!" he protested
"Yet." muttered Breda
"Well, as amusing as this is," commented the colonel "Some of us still have the day off, so we'll be going!" he announced, picking Ariana up "After all, we've got a lot of catching up to do!"
"You're not going anywhere alone with my sister!" protested Ed hotly
"I'd guess at that pendant around their neck they know about your game?" asked Roy idly
A nod "They do."
At the game reference, Ed had calmed down, and he was now giving the man a speculative look shared by his brother – Ari hadn't told the bastard about Chaos Game, and certainly didn't have time in the few minutes the colonel had managed to kidnap her, yet he now seemed to know.
"Well," he suggested, ignoring the surprised looks from the team at his sudden calm "Let's go then, colonel bastard."
"Let's, FullMetal midget."
And with that, he was already out of the room – still holding on Ariana, to the team's hilarity – while the eldest Elric was raging and following suit, Al and Ana after him.
"Why is brother Ed using bad words?" the little girl was heard wondering as they left, only adding to the general hilarity
The Elric and Roy were soon back in the man's car, and Ariana finally asking "So? How?"
"Death's Blessing was actually a challenge issued by Life." he explained "The moment I activated the challenge, I would be sent directly to my next reincarnation, except my memories would be blocked instead of erased."
"That's why you still acted so much... like you!"
He chuckled at the statement, and explained "Yes, that's why."
"Wait, wait..." interrupted Al, suddenly understanding "You mean that the colonel regained his memories from his previous life!"
Ariana's happy smile was more than enough of an answer.
"So, how exactly is it possible?" wondered Ed
"Life declared me her Champion."
"A Champion is a mortal that is imbued by a powerful god's powers, and must take care of one or several tasks set for him by the god." explained Ariana "In this case, I'd guess your task was to complete the Reincarnation Challenge?"
"It was." he nodded "And the moment I completed it I regained my memories of Renato Sinclair, as well as access to Chaos' Game." a smug smile "But more importantly, I found you back, bambina."
"Wow, I didn't think it was possible but... Ari was your husband even worst of a smug arrogant bastard in his previous life than in the current one?" wondered Ed while dodging the explosion coming his way by sauntering in said bastard's house
"Hm, handy." commented Roy "Seems that because I now actually remember being reincarnated and passing through the Gate to get to this world, I can do this circle-less trick too now." he commented
"Ah! So it really is remembering entering this word that does it!" Ariana's eyes brightened at her theory being confirmed "I knew it!"
"So... now what?" wondered Ed "It's good and all the bastard's became a bigger bastard but what does it really change?"
"Well, Ari is happy." shrugged Al "It's more than enough, no?"
"Right now, it only means that I have more memories." admitted the colonel "What it really changes is that now or in the next life, you're now not getting rid of me, bambina..."
"You mean..."
"Well, I did promise, didn't I? He commented, revealing his left wrist, and a familiar tattoo "For as long as our love shall last..."
As if magic had been waiting only for the words to be spoken, Ariana felt warmth fill her as a feeling that had been gone for too long was suddenly back. Eyes filled with wonder, she revealed her own wrist, where the same tattoo was suddenly back.
"See," his fingers trailed on her skin, tracing the familiar symbol "we are still one."
¤.¤.¤
Al, who'd been restraining Ed for a few minutes, finally lost his hold on their elder brother that had been fuming until now. Except he wasn't anymore, because he may not know what the hell the weird tattoo was, he didn't need to know Ari as well as he did to understand that it was important to her.
And the bastard may be even worst than before – he still had managed to came back for her, which was quite impressive.
And there was so much depth to the feelings he managed to read in his eyes that suddenly, it didn't really matter all that much that he was a bastard. Because Edward really couldn't think of anyone else ever caring for his sister that much.
So, even though he really wanted to, he didn't blow a fuse when the man captured his sister's lips for a soft kiss. At least it didn't last too long...
Then, Ana, who had been playing with Tempest and Padfoot, announced "Padfoot says that the colonel bas-tard is supposed to wait for the age of cons-cent."
Ed mentally cheered on the dog's comment – then realized what Ana had just said.
"You can understand Padfoot?" asked Al
"And Tempesta." nodded the little girl "Even if she speaks weirdly..."
"Well, she is a dog chimera." commented Ariana "So I guess she gained the ability to understand canine... "
"And I should be able to kiss my own wife without her dogfather interfering!"
"You're not married in this world!" protested Ed, good-will finally overcome by his natural temper "My sister is still far too young, you fucking pedo! Padfoot is right!"
"Well..." contradicted Ariana, amused "Technically, we just renewed our wedding vows."
Ed's mouth dropped open.
Seeing how his brother seemed to have disconnected his brain, Al steered the conversation in another direction "So you are now a main player of Chaos' Game like Ari?"
"I am." he confirmed "Chaos took care of this before I was sent here. Speaking of which, are you the only players?"
"There's Winry in Rosembool." answered Ed, finally back from his small mental breakdown "Why?"
"I was thinking on bringing Riza in on it," a shrug "She's pretty much my sorella, there's no way she won't noticed I've changed."
"Family is important." nodded Ariana, not really surprised he considered the lieutenant like a sister "Anyway, she'll probably drop by later, won't she?"
"She did say she would bring the additional paperwork regarding that Scar incident." he said, eyes darkening at the memory "Speaking of that..."
"It can't happen again." said Ariana – and Al was bemused to see how much more in tune they were than before
"Indeed. I'm notching up my training. And yours."
At that affirmation, Ari whitened, making Al and Ed share a worried glance – the girl that had thought teacher's training methods fun was afraid? This couldn't be good, could it?
¤.¤.¤
As it turned out, it wasn't good, and the man was a complete sadistic when it came to training, as he demonstrated several times in the following hour, pushing the two Elric brothers through their paces while the two sisters watched from the side-line, since Ariana was still recovering.
And what the man lacked in alchemical knowledge, he more than made up in shear battle prowess, taking his new ability with circle-less alchemy in stride and adapting it to his fighting style in mere moments.
So it was that Riza arrived a few hours later to a strange show – earlier than expected, because she had been worried for her superior, having noted he seemed different in the small lapse of time she'd seen him before he left the military district.
Anastasia was happily cheering on two ragged Elric brothers, Al still having only one hand and thus no access to alchemy on-the-fly, Ariana by her side throwing some comments from time to time while jolting down notes on paper a the same time.
"New project?" she inquired
"That fight earlier made me realize I was missing something..." a frown "I'm good enough to fight against normal fighters, but as soon as a worthy opponent as Scar appeared, I was worthless."
"Technically you're the only one that managed to touch him." corrected Riza, a bit surprised at the harsh assessment of her skills the girl had
"It wasn't enough." contradicted Roy, "none of us were good enough."
"Scar was only human, yet he nearly got us all," added Ed, having come to understand a bit the two's frustration sometimes during the sparring session from hell "Yet according to Feng, there are up to six homunculus on top of the original one."
"So whether we like to fight or not is irrelevant right now." nodded Al "Because we are going to have to anyway." and it wasn't a happy realization for him, who really was a pacifist by nature – but even if he didn't like to fight, he also didn't intent to watch the others fight without him when the time came
And somehow, he doubted, just like the rest of them, that the homunculus would be stopped without a fight or two.
"So, what did you think up, bambina?" wondered Roy, leaning casually toward the notes the girl had been making
"An alchemical version of my Crimson Edge." she said with a blood-thirsty smile "I got the idea from Scar's methods."
He answered with his own smile, making Al shudder.
His brother was right – that man was a sadistic bastard.
As for Riza, her eyebrow shot up. She had been right, something had changed with Roy, and even more so with his interactions with Ariana. As if sensing her curiosity – and probably guessing at it, since they did knew each other well, the colonel chuckled "Patience, Riza, I'll explain in a few minutes."
With that, the boys ducked inside to shower, Ana enthusiastically explaining to the lieutenant how the colonel was so strong he could beat brother Ed and brother Al at the same time and shoot at them without hurting them too much.
The shooting comment intrigued Riza – while the colonel had followed the standard firearm formation at the academy, he didn't really keep nor use any firearm, his alchemy and boot-knife more than enough to protect himself.
And it was true – except that, a few minutes within the sparring session, the Elric and Roy had received an unexpected visit...
Apparently, since he had been a Soul-bound familiar in their previous life, the shape-shifting chameleon Leon had found his way to the colonel, and watched him without revealing his presence ever since. And since his master was now whole again, the strange pet was back too, which meant that the greatest hitman in the world also had his favorite weapon back.
Ed and Al had spent a lot of time dodging, be it bullets or explosions, during that afternoon...
¤.¤.¤
Soon, the group was settled in the living-room, Al entertaining Ana and while Ed was sinking into one of the couches, still glaring at the colonel while mumbling for himself.
Even if he didn't like to admit it, he knew that they had to improve, and so – just like his sister – he was already thinking up new, lethal ways to use his alchemy.
"So, what's going on Roy?"
"I finally remembered why I was born with these eyes." a satisfied smile "And I found what I was looking for."
"Taking at the casual way you're snuggling with WindBlade without FullMetal biting at your head, I'd say it's related to her?"
"Our sister remembers her previous life. Both of them." said Ed "And in the last one, she was married with the bastard... And since he's an arrogant bastard, he decided that small details like losing your memories when being reincarnated didn't really apply to him since he had a wife to find again..."
Riza would have be tempted to doubt, if not for the fact that somehow – it was too unbelievable not to be true, and it also seemed to fit her friend to a T.
"Technically," contradicted Roy "I didn't have my memories, even if they were trying to break out each time I caught a glimpse of the bambina's previous powers..."
"Now that I think about it," said Al from where he was playing with Ana – and was he trying to teach her alchemy? "you didn't told use what made you regain your memories..."
Ari and Riza shared an amused glance, as they noted that the man seemed a bit – embarrassed – at the question.
What could it have been for him to react like that?
"I had to find you, love you, and confess. And you had to love me as Roy just as you loved me as Renato and confess." he admitted softly to his wife, making her blush and lean a bit more into him
Her whisper, echoing his comment earlier was heard only by him "For as long as our love shall last..."
Riza was far from stupid – and while she was happy for Roy and Ari, she also knew that there had to be more to the situation than just two lover finding each other again.
And with an imperious look, she said as much, making the annoying man laugh – why did she consider him a brother again?
"You're right, of course, sorella." he nodded – and she noted the unknown endearment, that sounded to come from the same language as the new one he'd used for Ari earlier, undoubtedly something from his previous life
"Ari is an immortal that gets reincarnated repeatedly nearby people that have been designed to do something important in their life." said Al with a smile "Our very own guardian-angel if you will."
"More like angel of death..." corrected Ed, amused "But yes, that's it. Basically, it's only because Ari is so special that the bastard was given the chance to follow her."
"But the point is that I've now by memories back, and with them my gifts too." said Roy
"And Chaos' Game is a tool really useful. But this time, it seems to only be shared with those seen as family..." explained Ariana, mumbling for herself "Probably because of the Gate restricting the holy powers flow between this world and the Immortal Realms..."
Riza eye's widened as words appeared in green letters in front of her eyes – not only because this was something so completely alien, but also because of what Ariana had said.
Family.
The reason why she could have access to this – even if she had known that Roy saw her as family just as she did him, he had never said it in words.
And now, she had the proof...
¤.¤.¤
Al had been the one to explain most of the basic functions of Chaos' Game to her – the kid really had a gift for teaching, as Ana had proved by being able in under an hour to explain one of the basic tenant of alchemy.
The evening had been more relaxed after that – thought Roy had reaffirmed the need to train more, and enrolled Riza in it.
Not that she really minded.
Plans had to be made to go to Rosembool too, as Al's automail had been destroyed, even thought they had gathered the parts they could, and Padfoot's limb, while functional, was only a temporary repair.
That night, Riza took one of the guest rooms, while the Elric siblings shared yet again the room they had slept in the night before.
But barely an hour after falling asleep, Ed startled awake – and soon understood why when he noticed his sister missing.
Since he was up anyway, he silently went down the stairs to the kitchen, a bit thirsty – stopped himself before entering the living room, hearing two soft voices speaking.
He knew he shouldn't listen in, but the first sentence he heard made him stay.
"It doesn't matter if I will find you again in your next life, bambina, I'm not letting you die early in this one!"
"There's no changing it, Ren!" contrary to the time she'd said it to him years ago, the anger burned hot rather than cold in her voice this time
No. It wasn't anger, of course not, it was far worse.
It was fear.
Because the little sister that always appeared so strong in front of the others still was afraid, and being reborn didn't mean wanting to let go of this life.
And this wasn't a fear she could show in front of her brothers that still were eaten by guilt...
"It's not like I want to die young again, but Ren... I've already maxed out my Hallows skill for this life. Holy powers..."
"Aren't meant to be used by mortals..." he completed, as if it was something he'd heard already several times – and it probably was "But there is a way, bambina!"
"What do you mean?"
"Just like Mukuro and Chrome..."
"Their situation was different! What they shared mainly was power!"
"Yet Chrome was living on Mukuro's lifespan. We could craft an alchemy ritual to do this."
"The price would be taken on your own lifespan!"
"Ah but bambina... I'd rather live twenty years with you than thirty without you..."
A defeated sigh, and Ari pushed her head against his chest, mumbling "How mean, using my own words against me..."
"You already knew I was a sadistic bastard."
"You are."
Ed could hear the pout in her voice.
He was smiling as he silently made his way back to his room, thirst forgotten, and thankful that his sister had been too focused on her talk to sense his presence. It had been a bit frustrating earlier to realize that with his memories back, the bastard now knew far more about his little sister than before – and to be honest, he had been a bit jealous of the man.
But right now, he was really thankful for that knowledge, and his devotion to her.
Because bastard he may be, it was that bastard that had found a way to repair his mistake, and for that, he owed the man. May be he'd try to do his paperwork on time for a few months. Or weeks.
After all, he couldn't let the bastard get too used to it, couldn't he?
Back in the living-room, Roy smiled softly at the girl that had fallen asleep in his arms, the fear that had been eating at him since he'd had his memories back finally calming down. He wasn't loosing her so soon this time, he would make sure of it.
Truth be told, it wasn't even the first time he envisaged this ritual – he had thought about it when he was still Renato Sinclair, the all-knowing Fae Mizuki helping with the research, the blond witch not wanting to lose her friend so soon either.
In the end, they had concluded that the ritual wouldn't hold, as their powers had been incompatible, his Sun Flames not able to take charge over the powerful Sky Flames of his wife.
But this time – this time Flame alignment wasn't in the way, and a few years of life weren't even a sacrifice in front of the possibility to keep her by his side a bit longer!
Finally, the Elric where in Rosembool, new sibling in tow – and Winry had nearly burst their ears with her loud squealing when she first saw the little girls doggy appendages.
And then again when she learned that the colonel had regained his memories from his previous life.
Ed and Al had felt very happy that heir sister wasn't prone to such outbursts.
Even if she did have her own flaws – like for example, the sadistic side she hid most of the time and came to haunt them at full force during torture... er sparring.
But within the week they spent in Rosembool, the result of their new, harsher training regiment was already visible, and each sibling had managed to came up with a new attack.
Ariana, as she had stated after the fight against Scar, had adapted her previous life attack – the Crimson Edge was an attack that condensed the disintegration properties of her Storm Flames. Using Scar's ability to stop to the disintegration part of the transmutation process, she engraved two array into all her blades – one that would disintegrate any organic matters coming in contact with the weapon and one that would take care of synthetic matters.
Creating these arrays had been far harder than she'd thought, and that was why she decided to have them already engraved on her weapon opposed to just add them on the go like she did with her Cutting Edge circles – because the purpose of alchemy was to recreate, and not to destroy, using it like that wasn't instinctive and so with the array being already written rather than having to think about them during a fight, she reduced the possibility of any error being made; a rebound with an array created to destroy was bound to be catastrophic after all.
Ed was working on a long-range technique he could use, since his reputation as a close-range fighter was well-established it was doubtful someone wouldn't try to take advantage of it one day or another...
As for Al, he was looking more into way to defend himself, trying to create an array that could allow to temporary change the density of an item – an idea inspired by what they had seen of Greed's interesting ability to reinforce and regenerate his body during the Boss fights against him in the Arena.
Automail repaired, the siblings were then back to East City, ready for their next assignment.
¤.¤.¤
"Youswell? Doesn't this city fall under New Optain's care?" wondered Alphonse
"It does." confirmed the colonel "But the reports and numbers New Optain gives us about it are fishy at best, and don't go in the same direction as the rumors I've gleamed at all."
"Well," Ariana grabbed the file "Let's get to work then."
"No goodbye kiss, bambina?" pouted the man, enjoying immensely the chaos the comment provoked in the rest of the office
Chaos Ariana only added to when she casually leaned over the desk to comply – and even if the kiss was quite chaste, it still stirred the passions in the office, Havoc wailing a desperate no while Fuery handed a few bills to a smug Breda with a sigh.
As for Ed, he pinched the bridge of his nose "I'm going to have to get used to it, won't I?"
"You're taking this pretty calmly..." remarked a surprised Fuery
"I just don't want to get burned. Or shot. Or sliced." he commented, Al and him whitening a bit at the memory of the colonel's conceptualization of training
Riza raised an eyebrow at the comment, making a note to ask Roy about it, while the four siblings were off to the train station – and she noted, amused that with the mission they'd been assigned, they wouldn't even be gone for a month, which was quite a short mission for the siblings.
"They are lugging a child around, I can't have them on the road for month." was his evidently dishonest answer when she remarked on it
"You know the worst with that bastard having his memories back?" sighed Ed as he acknowledged a notification "He can harass me even when he isn't here!" he said, glaring at the message he'd just received
Al and Ari shared an amused smile at the huffing statement, and settled back in their own notes, all of them lost in their own work – now that her Crimson Edge was back, Ariana was starting to work more with her Blood Art and runes.
If she was doing a life-biding ritual with Roy, there was no way she wasn't checking anyway to lessen the burden on him.
And working on that also made her stumble on another thing – a Blood Magic Ritual in the Ravenclaw's Grimoire that dealt with adoption.
She glanced at Ana, and decided to check if it could work with alchemy and Blood Art before talking about it with her brothers and the little girl.
Still, it could be a good way to definitively change her appearance as a child that was blood-adopted tended to take on a few features from the one that did the adoption – whereas just modifying the melamine concentration around her body was only a temporary solution that had to be redone regularly...
¤.¤.¤
"Well, looks like the bastard was spot on, once more." noted Ed as they arrived at the train's terminus
Indeed – for a mining town, the place wasn't very lively, and all the workers they saw around looked worn and tired.
This wasn't coherent at all with the reports from New Optain, that reported a medium sized mine full of activity and a prosperous town to go with it.
"Let's look for an Inn, Ana's tired." said Al, looking around the derelict looking place
"Oh! Customers!" was the happy shout that his suggestion provoked from a per-adolescent boy that enthusiastically dragged them to one of the unkempt building "Here! This is the only Inn in the town!"
The two boys shared a nonplussed glance, and Ariana bopped them on the back of the head with a sigh "Customer means money. And judging by the whole town's state, money is something everyone here desperately need."
"Not everyone," corrected the tall innkeeper "Just us normal people."
"What do you mean?"
"Well it's those military scums fault!" loudly explained the kid that had dragged them here
"How so?" wondered Al, happy that the answers to their current mission seemed to be falling in his laps freely
"First lieutenant Yoki." spat one of the regular that was nursing his beer a table away "Greedy bastard if there's one. He controls the mine, owns it, and line the brass' pockets with bribes while starving us."
While some were explaining that, Ariana had been bargaining for their stay.
"We don't have that kind of cash on us." a frown "Or rather nobody has that kind of cash at hand, really, I can get you need money but acting like that you're no better than the guys who's destroying your town."
"You dare..."
"I do." she interrupted coldly "Clearly something is going wrong with the military in this town, but that's no reason to generalize to every damn military in the country, that's just stupid."
"Well they're letting Yoki get away with it!"
"Are they?" she raised an eyebrow "Then I guess we can head back and forget all about your situation then." she commented "That's good to know, we'll be off with the next train."
Their conversation had gained attention, and one of the customers, eyeing them suspiciously, asked "Are you military dogs?"
"As a matter of fact, the three of us are." nodded Ed
"Then you have nothing to do here!" shouted the kid that had dragged them earlier
"Yes, the innkeeper already stated it clearly enough." shrugged Ariana "All the better I guess, we'll be back to East City faster, and can say to the colonel that he was wrong, nothing fishy is going on here and as such there wasn't any need for us to do anything."
"You would, wouldn't you, military scum!"
"You think they heard the part where we were sent here to help them but they are refusing our help?" wondered Al to Ed
"Nope, don't think so." he denied "Well, let's go and see that Yoki bastard, seems he's the one we've got to take care of." a forlorn sigh "Still, can't we do a fake report where we say to the colonel he was wrong? The bastard would be so annoyed to think he'd been wrong!"
"Then he'd see the true report, learn that you mocked him, and whip out another training session from hell." contradicted his brother
By the time the townsmen started to understood what the siblings had been saying, they were already gone.
¤.¤.¤
"Wow, talk about a cliché villain..." voice raising in astonishment as the siblings witnessed a man that judging by the stripes on his uniform must have been First Lieutenant Yoki, parading between two brutish looking soldiers while coming to extort a few shop-owners, or rather 'collecting taxes'
"Should we go and introduce ourselves?" suggested with a grin that didn't bode well for said First Lieutenant
"Let's." nodded their sister, the expression on her face echoing his
"Brother Ed and sister Ari are weird." stated Ana, tone slightly perplexed
"That they are." agreed Al, amused, as true to their word his siblings were accosting the man
Within moments, Ari and Ed's charm had operated, and they had convinced the buffoon they were here to confirm the positive rumors Central had been hearing about him. Why ever would Central want to have anything to do with such a small, poor town, he didn't seem to wonder about. Not even realizing that it wasn't Central that was in charge of towns in this part of the country except when something big, like a rebellion happened...
Still, at least they'd gotten a good meal out of the idiot.
Then, they'd tricked him into selling his mine to them against a promise to make him having a promoting and a mountain of gold – alchemy-made gold.
Hey, it was about time they went against the third of the major rules State Alchemists were suppose to abide!
"Ah, you understand that since alchemist aren't supposed to make gold this have to be our little secret?" smiled sweetly Ari
"Of course, of course!"
"Just put on the act that you gifted it to us." encouraged Ed, handing a pen to the man "As for this," he added, waving at the lines and lines of gold that were lining the study "It's just a present between friends."
"And what good friends you are!" nodded the First Lieutenant eagerly
"Adults are weird." whispered Ana, who was drawing and keeping herself entertained near Al
And so, a meal, a night, and a fraud later, they were leaving Yoki's mansion – not without Ed sneaking back to the study to turn the gold back to what it initially was.
Coal.
¤.¤.¤
Eager shouts welcomed them when they barged in the room where several of the townsmen from the day before were assembled to try and cook up a way to fight back against the man that was making their life hell.
"Ah! The military kids!"
"We really didn't like what you said yesterday, but you were right." was sighing the innkeeper "We were so focused on our own problems that we were starting to become bad people ourselves..." a smile "We were thinking about scrapping the fee for the train and send someone to Central to tell at least try to fill a complain."
"So you woke up." Ari smiled approvingly
"But I don't know what people in this city got with Central!" loudly added Ed "First Buffoon was the same 'please put a good word for me in Central'..." he laughed "As if!"
"Central isn't in charge of Youswell, it falls under East City authority." explained Al to the nonplussed miners "Someone in New Optain was getting reports, and bribes from Yoki. Our superior in East City was finding the reports to be... lacking, so he sent us to check what truly was going on."
"Colonel Mustang is a bastard, but he's a bastard that cares about people." confirmed Ed – he was better off repaying his debt toward the man by improving his reputation where he couldn't see it, otherwise he'd become even more arrogant
"Anyway, we've got to get back to East City, but we've got this thing that just won't fit in our bags..." said Ariana "So here, take it!"
"That's... That's the mine ownership!"
"And it's got my name on it!"
"Only because it was the shortest to write." teased Al
"How dare you call you elder brother so short he could ride an amoeba and drown in a water drop!"
Yoki choose that moment to barge in, having apparently realized that his gold had disappeared. But of course, with the way the Elric Siblings had made him word the ownership act, there was nothing the man could do.
"Oh," added Ari with a sweet smile as the man was realizing he had lost everything "And do be ready to answer a summon to East District to be court-martial-ed. After all, attempted bribe on State Alchemist, misappropriation of resources managed for the military and ill-gained promotions aren't viewed kindly."
"Well!" loudly proclaimed Ed as the man was dragged away, presumably to be held in custody – and if he looked like he was resisting arrest, you couldn't blame the miners for restraining him a bit violently "That was done quickly! Let's get back to East City, the colonel bastard must be getting bored without us!"
[Side Quest Complete! +50XP
Reward: 1 utility belt Lv45 (medium armor: +50 defense, +25 concentration, +25 mind speed)]
[Level up! You are now level 44!
+1SP]
"Please stay and let us treat you!" protested one of the men "You saved our home!"
"There is another train tomorrow morning!" added the kid they'd met at the railway-station
The siblings paused a bit, unsure, but Ana loud whisper to Ari of "Do you think they have cookies?" settled it
"It's completely unfair." moaned Ed as he dragged himself in the train "I saw you drink at least three times what I did! And you're right as rain!"
"I have a fast metabolism?" asked rather than stated his sister
Al who was tired but still in a far better state than the eldest, snorted "It's more like you drink beer just like water! And Halling's face when he learned your age was hilarious!"
She crossed her arms under her budding chest "I don't see why it's alright for you to drink beer, but as soon as he learned I was thirteen and not fourteen, suddenly that was the end of the world!"
"Well there has to be some kind of limit somewhere." shrugged Al "And he got over it pretty quick anyway."
"Maybe because she was destroying one of the miners in a drinking contest?" suggested Ed while dropping on a banquet and closing his eyes, hiding from the sun with his arm "Now shut up, I need some sleep!"
And with that, he was soon snoring away, Anastasia giggling at his behavior before begging Alphonse for some more 'games with funny shapes'.
Yes, she was learning the basis of drawing up alchemy circle without really realizing it. Smiling indulgently at the little girl, as her brother settled on giving her the lessons demanded in a low voice, she went back to her trusty notebook.
Several hours later, as the train was making a long stop at New Optain, she got off to find lunch for them – and noticed that there seemed to be quite a few military around the station. Wondering what it was about – she soon had her answer as while trailing back to her car, she noticed that another car seemed to be booked. Probably some kind of high grade man traveling then.
Maybe even one of those guys that regularly came to East City to play the power games against Roy and fail miserably...
A few hours within the ride, Ariana frowned, then said "There's something going on. I can feel a lot of fear and panic propagating through the train."
"Another robbery?" asked a dismayed Al
"Well let's try to avoid waking Ed up. Last time was bad enough."
Her brother nodded vigorously – on of the thief had called Ed a midget.
It hadn't gone well, and had to be restrained before he did too much damage to the man. After that, the man had developed a phobia of blonds...
"So... I'll scout ahead and take care of it if possible, you protect Ana?"
"I'll keep the vocal chat open, call if you need and keep me updated."
"Of course. Come on Padfoot, let's kick some robber's ass!"
An enthusiastic bark later, they were gone.
Ariana only had to walk up a few cars to find the source – or at least part of it – of the problem. Two guys, weapon in hands, holding up the car hostage.
"So, Padfoot," she whispered, "which one do you want?"
The black dog pointed his muzzle toward the nearest – and smallest – bandit, making his mistress roll her eyes "Lazy bum."
The next second, dog and girl where jumping into the fray, Ariana taking the occasion to test her new Crimson Edge by making her opponent's firearm disintegrate in his hands before distracting him with a small scale explosion and immobilizing him by making the car's floor trap his feet.
Then she turned toward the other man – Padfoot had taken advantage of his Grimm ability to provoke fear in people to get rid of the man's weapon before biting a strategical point. Even as a girl, Ari couldn't help but feel for the incapacitated man...
"So," she asked the one that could still talk "What's going on?"
What was going on, it turned out, was a hostage situation – because the agitation at the station earlier was because general Halcrow from New Optain was on board.
"So that's what is going on. Apparently there's another ten idiots on board."
"Alright, I'll wake brother up then. Better be safe than sorry."
"Let's meet up at the front then."
With that, Ariana grabbed Padfoot, the dog gripping on her shoulder to free her hands, and she got to the roof, where she immediately used her black flames to progress toward the front of the train – no need to show off this ability to anyone when she could avoid it after all...
Ed was in an awful mood at having been waken up – and the hijackers paid the price of it, while Ariana took care of the leader of the group – a guy with a gun automail.
She wrinkled he nose at it – really, it was so tacky! And Winry's work was far better!
All in all, the hijacking situation didn't last more than half an hour, and Roy and the team were waiting for them at the station, ready to take the idiots in custody.
"Welcome back, FullMetal, EarthBreaker, WindBlade, and good job."
"Tch, We're back, colonel bastard. Try to give us a more interesting mission next!" grumbled Ed
"So, anything interesting?" asked Roy to Ariana, ignoring her brother's usual complaining
"I got to test my new Crimson Edge!"
"Thus the blood." completed Al, pointing at the hijacking attempt leader, who was now lacking his left leg and part of his automail
And had apparently gotten free of the ropes that were binding him. Not deigning giving the roaring man that was rushing toward them a second glance, Roy sent an explosion his way "That's good. Will you be up for a sparring session later?" the way the girl's eyes lit up was enough of an answer
"Sparring? Really?" protested Ed "How can you be so... awake after yesterday?"
"Oh?"
"Turns out sister holds out her liquor better than brother. Better than most people, really..." explained Al "The miners were really thankful for our inspection..."
"You do realize the legal age to start drinking is fourteen?" wondered Riza at that
"Isn't it more like a guideline?" asked Ariana with an innocent look on her face
The lieutenant sighed, deciding it wasn't worth it to argue. Now that she knew both Roy and Ari occupation in their previous life, lots of their attitude made much more sense than before...
The following weeks, the Elric spent in East City, the four of them having nearly moved in at the colonel's place and Riza a frequent visitor.
A lot of time was spent sparing and training, Ariana and Roy spending hours laying the foundation of the array that would save the girl – and while doing this, the young alchemist had also perfected the simpler array that would allow the Elric siblings to really adopt Anastasia. As such, a few weeks after coming back from Youswell, the four siblings were assembled in the house's basement in front of a large blood array.
Even though they were smiling at their youngest, the three elder siblings were tense – they weren't trying to bring someone back, and using Ari's Blood Art rather than only Earth Alchemy, yet it still was eerily reminiscent of that fateful day, years ago.
As the array activated, they relaxed, feeling the power rushing around them, similar but different to what had happened all these years ago in that this time, they weren't trying to get more than what they were paying for thanks to the Blood Art imbued circle.
In the center of the circle, Ana was taken by the power, her appearance changing minutely – her face getting sharper, hair and eyes shifting to the same unique gold as the three Elric siblings.
[Hidden Quest Complete! Family means no on get left behind!
Nina Tucker has been saved thanks to your efforts, and now Anastasia Elric is a part of your family
Reward: +100XP, Anastasia Elric added to Chaos Game]
In the party that followed Ana's official adoption into the family, they nearly overlooked the details entailed in the reward – that is until the little girl, having gained a considerable intelligence boost by gaining the Von Hohenheim Inheritance perk started to explored the game menus by herself...
Alphonse had decided that since he already was the one that took care of the little girl schooling, he would also explain Chaos Game to her – and the others happily let him do as he wanted, used by now at the teens authoritative ways when it came to learning...
The little girl had easily understood that her new power wasn't something to speak about with anyone, just like her chimera attribute, and while she did't need Chaos' Game, she still was having a lot of fun with it, regularly gaining small secondary quest by helping around East headquarter while her siblings worked - and soon, the youngest Elric was a known figure around the military districts, adored by the military, none the wiser about her special abilities...
¤.¤.¤
"You look worried?"
Ari let her eyes wonder from the office's window toward the man she loved "There's a homunculus in the city. And I wasn't sure at first, but it looks like it's following us around."
The colonel frowned – this wasn't good, he had been ready to sent them to a nearby town were rumors of miraculous healing were circulating. But leading a homunculus to such a town was anything but a good idea...
"Do you have someone else you could send to investigate the rumor that would understand the need for discretion?" asked Ariana after he voiced his thoughts
A moment of reflexion – a frown, then a sigh.
"There is someone." reluctantly admitted the colonel
When she heard whom he had in mind, the blond girl couldn't help but sigh too – for the major Armstrong was reliable, and trustworthy, but his rumbustious character also made it a chore to speak with him for too long...
And so, while the Elric siblings were sent to Central City for a fallacious reason, the Strong Arm Alchemist was taking a train in the opposite direction to investigate the rumor unearthed by the colonel.
"So?" asked Ed as they boarded their own train
"Still following us." nodded Ariana
"You know," remarked Al "I think I'm starting to get a hang of the alkahestry technique to feel people around... And I think I may be feeling the homunculus too with it..."
"Well," grimaced Ed "I guess it means more studying Water Alchemy then..." of the three of them, Ed was the one that had the most difficulties with Alchemy not based on Earth, while Al was getting better and better with Water Alchemy, having even surpassed Ari in it
They had been met in Central City by Maes and the other two member of the Hughes family, the little Elicia ever so happy to see her godmother again, and soon making fast friend with Ana after a small bout of initial shyness...
As for Maes, the man had been just as loud as they had expected when he saw their newest sibling for the first time.
Since they had to be seen doing something in Central to justify their trip, they decided to raid the National Central Library – and for the following days, they did just that, Ana staying at the Hughes to play with Elicia while they lost themselves in books.
Just as they had hoped, the presence that had been following them around for a few days eventually decided that they really weren't doing anything more than furthering the alchemy research, and left them alone. The Central headquarter had also decided to assign them an escort – that was reduced from six to two men with the argument that the three of them were always together.
While a bit annoying, they had eventually accepted the escort if only to take advantage of the car that came with it – and sergeant Bross and Second Lieutenant Ross were an amiable pair that often were in awe of the siblings knowledge, and relations.
¤.¤.¤
Then, Roy used Chaos' Game message system to inform them about what major Armstrong had found near Rosembool – and it had been nearly as bad as they'd feared.
There had indeed been a philosopher stone in the town he'd been sent to investigate – in the hands of a man he, and the military, had thought dead.
Hiding under the identity of a small town doctor, the former State Alchemist and doctor had taken advantage of the end of the Ishval conflict's chaos to spread rumors about his death and flee the military. And the reason for his escape was grim et predictable – the military had used the Ishval war to experiment around with the philosopher stone.
Disgusted by what he had to do for the military, and the knowledge he had, he eventually fled, keeping only one small philosopher stone from his last experiment.
Alerted thanks to the major that he was in danger of being found – after all, if they had found him thanks to the rumors, other could – doctor Marcoh made a small trip to East City before leaving behind the town that had become his home, not wanting to put them at risk.
On thing he'd eventually told to Roy after learning that they already knew what was the main ingredient for the stone, was that he'd hidden his research in National Central Library First Branch.
[Life Quest! Crimson beyond flowing blood!
Goal: find Dr Marcoh's notes before they fell in bad hands
Bonus Goal: find a new assistant for the Investigation Department
Reward: +100XP per goal, unlocks Challenge System upon completion
Bonus Reward: +150XP per goal, unlocks Bookworm (+5 to all knowledge and language) perk upon completion]
The siblings, that had thought that finding Marcoh, and telling to hide, had been nothing more than a secondary goal, were rethinking this when the quest appeared – apparently, their work in Central wasn't done.
And so, the went back to the library.
The first thing that was apparent when they entered the First Branch was that the librarian in charge wasn't very good at her job – they found the young, short haired woman with glasses nearly buried under piles upon piles of books.
"I'm sorry..." she sighed as they helped her "I tend to forget that I'm paid to classify the books, not read them! But I need the money of the job to pay for my mother's hospital bill!"
The siblings laughed at the pitiful admission, but empathized with her family problems, then asked directions toward what they were looking for.
"Oh! I remember those books!" enthusiastically nodded the woman, shifting through the piles of books to the ones needed "It really like the mushrooms recipe on page 73 of the third volume! But... what need would alchemists have with cooking recipes?"
"Cooking recipes?" repeated Second Lieutenant Ross, just as intrigued as the librarian
"Personal curiosity," answered Ariana with a smile "I'm not half-bad at cooking!"
"You mean you're a godsend!" corrected a jovial voice as Maes Hughes entered the library "It's so good to see you, kids!"
"You saw us this morning at breakfast, Maes." pointed out Ari, the girl struggling a bit to get out of the man's usual bear-hug
"This was hours ago!" then mood brusquely changing "And I've been buried in work ever since! There are way to much files to check in this library, and I'm but a man!"
"With a whole team behind you..." grumbled Ed
"What I need is an assistant! Someone with a good memory and not afraid of spending hours buried in books!"
¤.¤.¤
The three siblings shared a glance – then Alphonse, who was behind the librarian, pushed her toward the lieutenant "Here you go! One assistant, one!" he laughed
"Wha..."
"She's got a good memory, and she loves reading!" nodded Ariana "Why don't you give it a try?"
"The pay is good!" nodded enthusiastically Maes – and the siblings just knew he was already thinking about how much more work he could avoid with an assistant
As for the librarian – she was still surprised, but apparently mentioning a god pay had been all that she needed. And soon, Maes was leaving, new assistant in tow, while they were taking the books with them, deciding to go back to the Hughes to work in a cosy environment rather than a bland library...
[Goal complete! +100XP
Goal update: find and investigate the Red Stone Laboratory
Bonus goal complete! +150XP
Bonus goal update: translate Dr Marcoh's research]
[Level up! You are now level 46!
+5CP, +2SP]
"This seems... too easy..." muttered Ed "I don't like it."
"It is easy only because we already know what is the Stone." contradicted Ariana, opening a map of the city "Because of that it's easy to see that there's only one lab that could have an easy access to... the raw material needed..."
"The fifth laboratory," nodded Al, joining her by the map "Near enough the military prison that death-row inmates could have easily been taken from one place to the other discretely..."
"Right now, the laboratory is supposed to be empty, and access is restricted because the danger of the building collapsing..." continued Ed, "How convenient."
The siblings shared a glance - it looked like they knew what was their next step.
¤.¤.¤
Riza knew Roy well – very well.
So of course, she had immediately picked upon the attitude change of the man when he was found in a... compromising position with Ariana.
Because Roy had told her that he didn't intend to move upon his intentions before the girl was fifteen, and even if his concept of honor was debatable, he never lied to her. But something had clearly changed, and so, questions eating at her mind, she eventually find a pretext to end work early and immediately headed toward his home, intent on having her answers.
And some answers it were!
Yet, as unbelievable as it seemed, it somehow made sense.
So her life had changed, because now Roy openly called her sister when among friend – or rather, sorella – and her life had been turned into a dangerous and chaotic game. She didn't mind – because, in spite of his new memories, Roy was still Roy.
Insufferable, arrogant, ambitious – and now more than ever she believed in his ability to make his goals come true.
So yes, he may have gained frustrating skills with firearms, that until then had been her domain, and seem to disregard even more than before the administration and the laws, but he was still the same man.
It was quite amusing to see how he was even more reluctant than before to sent the Elric away – yet at the same time, he now knew even better the value they had on the field.
So while the now four golden-haired siblings were heading toward Central City, and they were waiting on Armstrong's report, they were working in East City, the damn man knowing even better than before how to act in front of people, and who to persuade – threaten – to further their goal.
Scar, killing State Alchemists left and right, had opened a few positions around the country for an ambitious man.
One way or another, the colonel Mustang and his team would be the ones to be sent to Central City when the higher ups made their decision.
"So, what did we found?"
Riza startled out of her thoughts, eyes on the nearby destruction scene. A big fight – another one had been fought there, in was clear.
But most importantly, a bloody garment.
Scar's coat.
