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Two days. Twenty-four hours. One thousand four hundred forty minutes. Eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds. No matter how you say it, that's how long I've been waiting to hear about May's condition.
As soon as I arrived on this small farm, I ran straight inside and begged the doctor here, Tia Variety, to start helping her. I had healed her in the car, but she had some internal injuries on her organs, and some that were just too deep. My hands were tied, and it was up to her.
didn't have any other patients in her office, so she was able to help me, though she needed an assistant, and I had never learned anything beyond basic first aid… I can't even sew a wound up… Thankfully, the soldier that drove us here, Private Kriegler, was taught some advanced first aid meant to be used to temporarily treat fatal wounds of soldiers, until they could be brought to a doctor.
I couldn't do anything to help, so the doctor insisted that I wait outside for a while. Which I did, I waited. It was all that I could do not to break down because of how useless I was. I've learned all about alkahestry, but because I don't know anything about surgery, or a way to heal inside of a person's body, I can't heal her deepest injuries. It's just like with Nina…
For about four hours the surgery went on. As it turned out, May's injuries inside of her weren't very fatal, but they were still life threatening. If she hadn't gotten to the doctor when she did, she might not have survived that ordeal…
What on earth was all of that about anyway? Attacking a train, putting innocent people at risk, was it for those weapons? According to the conductor, all of the cargo on the train came from the same shipper, meaning that it was all the same. Weapons, dangerous tools. Not just guns, combat knives, mines, explosives, perhaps there was even more in the other crates wherever they went. Because of that, May's been injured…
May has been passed out in the doctor's office ever since her surgery ended, and I've been waiting ever since. At the moment, it's the afternoon, and Tia has… just come back from lunch with her family. She's been really nice in letting me stay, I doubt a regular hospital would allow that. Though, she has been asking me to get some rest and eat… but I just haven't felt tired or sleepy. I've been too worried.
She adjusts her glasses and says, "Mornin' Al! How's it goin'? Still waitin' for ol' sleeping beauty to wake up?" The brunette says, as she puts on a lab coat over her impressive figure, and her long hair into a messy bu with a pink scrunchy
"Yeah… still waiting. I know I should do what you've told me, but I need to stay…" Her cheery attitude must rub off on others, because I feel a little bit better when talking to her, with her unique accent,
But then she gets upset and says, "Hell yeah you should do what tell ya'! Look at you, a healthy young man in his peak, wasting away like that! It ain't good for you to stay awake for so long." She says, crossing her arms,
I look at the ground to avoid her gaze and mumble, "…Sorry…" Then she throws something at my head and goes to her desk,
"Forget it, kid, but if you're goin' to ignore what I say 'bout sleepin', at least take a bite o' that." I look at what was thrown at me, it's a small bushel of carrots, rinsed, peeled, and wrapped together by some twine.
"Thanks," I say,
"Just eat. Honestly, you youngen's are so carefree ya' don' even worry 'bout yer' bodies one dang bit. I swear, kid's these days." She says, putting her legs up onto her desk as she starts filling out some paperwork on her clipboard.
"Um… aren't you more carefree considering you're… in that relaxed position?"
Tia's eyes go wide, and after quickly standing up, she glares at me saying, "Don't you back-sass yer' elders boy! Show'em the respect they deserve!"
"But… I'm eighteen, you're just a year older than me-OUCH!" A clipboard is tossed at my head by Tia, and she stomps off,
"I'm goin' to see how May's doin' now…" she growls,
I suppose she doesn't like being called young. As I rub my face from the pain, I hear the door open to see Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Riza walking in. Both of them are a bit surprised to see me, but I can understand why. I must look like the living dead at this point.
"So, you're still here Al?" I nod and say,
"Yeah, I'm still here," I say grinning, "How are the others?"
"Well, Jerso pretty beaten up, he's getting some rest at the inn. Luckily, Zampano and Sheska are fine and walking around like nothing happened." Colonel Mustang gives me a downcast glance and says, "I'm sorry that this happened Al. If I had been there, those two in the train would have been incinerated," Colonel Mustang says, tightening his fists,
"It's okay Colonel. What's important is that everyone got out alright." I say comfortingly, then I try changing the conversation to try and help him forget about it, "So, have you been having fun here with that girl," Then he puts on a big grin and says,
"Oh, Airya, it's been great! Yeah, great! Ahahahaha!" Then, he leans against the wall, saying, "Apparently she only dates guys who live in her town, so, I've been helping her out with all of the farm work to try to change her mind…!" Then tears run down his eyes, "You know, little things, like gathering forty acres of corn for about eight hours, and spending early morning helping her replace a wall of her home that had started to rot out all morning at the crack of dawn, hehe… and you know what she said?" He turns to me, smiling ruefully, "She says that I am a very good 'friend'…" then he slides down the wall mumbling inoherently, and both me and Lieutenant Riza sweat drop… same old Colonel, even if he was promoted.
"So, Al," Lieutenant Riza says, "How are you holding up?" She says worriedly,
"Oh, I'm doing fine," I say, trying to ease her worries,
"Alright if you say so Listen, I wanted to update you on the prisoners," As soon as I hear –four hour surveillance by the soldiers Colonel Mustang brought along that, I perk up. That girl in the dirty clothes and Fawful have been held in a local jail, kept under twenty-four hour surveillance by the soldiers Colonel Mustang brought along, including Private Kriegler.
"We've been interrogating them for information as to why they attacked the train, but either of them have given any useful information, and I don't just mean that they were silent. The two of them don't seem to know their own motive for it."
"What?"
"Alice, the girl, has mentioned how there were weapons on the trains, but that's already known from that crate inside of the train. Fawful knew even less when we ask about why he went after the train."
"So, we've hit a dead end…" I say, disheartened,
"Not exactly Al," she says grinning.
"What do you mean?"
"There's something I needed to talk with you about," she says seriously, "It's the weapons that were found in that crate on the train. They-"
"AL!" I hear Tia's accented voice shout, as she runs into the room franticly, "Al! Get in here! She! Her! May is…!"
"What's wrong?" I say panicked,
"May's woken up!" I feel my body loosen up, and my eyes go wide as tears fill them. Then, I run to May's room, nearly knocking over Tia and run into May's room, to see May rubbing her eyes as she wakes up, observing her surroundings, surprised by the fact that she's in a white hospital gown,
"Alphonse? What happened? Where am-" I don't let her finish her sentence, I just run up to her to hug her,
"May… May..." I say, my body shaking as tears flow out of my eyes, "I… I'm so glad you're… alright…"
Seeing May awake causes nearly all of the stress that's been keeping me up to dissipate, and before I realize it, I'm passed out.
"May... I'm so glad… you're... alive…"
I run into the room, surprised to see Al hugging May and practically lying on top of her,
"A-a-a-a-a-alphonse? Al…phonse? What… do you mean?" May stutters, blushing very hard,
I walk over to Al's side to get him off of her, "Come on Al, let May get her rest," I say, shaking his shoulders and pulling him off, but this causes him to fall onto the floor, "So, you can finally rest, huh?" I say as I carry him onto a bed adjacent to May's.
"Finally?"
"He was waiting for you to wake up for the past few days," Roy says, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, "He's been so worried about you, that he hasn't even left this small clinic. He hasn't even been able to eat or even sleep, which shows how much he worried about you,"
May looks down at Al, amazed, and clearly flattered, while I recall Roy about five minutes ago. How does someone go from so incredibly stupid to… whatever he is now?
The two of us give May a brief summary of the situation, letting her know that Xiao Mei is waiting at an inn with everyone else and is doing fine, and then she goes on to say why she was on the train,
"I snuck on," She says, guiltily,
There is an awkward pause before Roy says, "Care to elaborate?"
"Well, I told Alphonse that I had a special surprise waiting for him in his luggage… the truth is, he had some room in his suitcase, and I was going to surprise him by jumping out. I was planning on heading back with him to Amestris."
"But… what were you doing outside of the luggage?" Roy asks,
"Maybe she was just hiding in the cargo hold. She didn't have to spend the entire trip there."
"That's actually spot on. See, what happened was, I was waiting in the cargo hold, but then the train starting shaking," From Fawful's attack, "And then, I manage to get through the doors, which coincidentally only open with a special key that I found on the floor. One of the staff members bumped his head and passed out, so I didn't think he'd need it,"
"And let me guess, that's when you met Alice and the Fawfighters?" Roy says,
"That's what they're called?" she says, amazingly unimpressed, "Anyway, yeah, and I was defeated by Alice the first time after those… Fawfighters were beaten and that guy Plat disappeared," Roy looks at me for an answer, but I don't have one,
"Plat?" I say,
"Yeah, he was a robed person with Alice, working with her and Fawful. He escaped on the top of the train to the cargo hold while Alice… went through the cars… thank goodness no one else was hurt by her…" she says,
"May, there was a lot of cargo missing, all of it consisted of weaponry, shipped inside of crates, like the one that was left behind. Did you get a look at what happened with them, and this Plat person?"
"Hmmmmmmm…" May says, putting her finger onto her chin, "Oh yeah! I saw them dump one crate into the desert, and Plat jumped out into it too!" May shouts,
Roy looks surprised by this, and starts thinking of the reasons for this, as do I. The desert between Xing and Amestris is deadly. Going through it on foot is considered suicide nowadays with the new train system installed, and no person would ever go into it without a good reason… and pushing all of those crates out… that could only mean,
"He was getting picked up!" Roy and I say at the same time,
Both of us have come to the same conclusion, and we both know what this means. It's been two days, and if he's been picked up, then they're probably going to want their allies back.
"So… you ran with your tail between your legs?" He says, glaring daggers at Plat, who's doing everything he can to avoid his angry gaze.
Plat is the only one who had managed to escape from Amestris, and he even brought over nearly all of the weapons we needed to steal. He actually completed his mission, but both Alice and Fawful had been captured. If they give up any information about us, things could get slightly difficult. It's already been two days… I doubt they'll be able to keep quiet about what little useful information we've given them much longer, provided they haven't talked already.
"W-well… technically no… I don't actually have a tail…" If that's not a desperate excuse, than I don't know what is,
He continues to stare at Plat for a moment, and I can feel the tension in the air, despite the fact that he's talking to us from a screen.
Both of us wait, nervous for what he may respond with… why am I so scared? He's so far away, I don't even know where he is, there's no way he could harm us… right?
Both I and Plat jump into the air, the second he opens his mouth and howls… laughter?
"Ahahahaha! You really thought I was going to punish you or something- ahahahaha!" I wait for a moment for the laughter to die down and ask,
"You're not upset?" I ask, bewildered, not that you could tell by looking at me,
"Oh, I would be if that didn't fit into my plans, but luckily for Plat here, it works out perfectly."
"I'm confused…" Plat says,
I've got to admit, I feel the exact same way he does, and that's rare for me.
"It's simple. There's something else that needs to be stolen, something I assigned Fawful to. Unfortunately, he failed to accomplish what I needed him to do, however, that doesn't mean we can't turn this around." He is interrupted when the doors leading to this room slides open, and three individual's walk inside of the room. Two of them are amazed at the massive facility that I made, however, one is completely calm.
The first person is a wiry but very handsome man, who looks very thin, with dark skin, and white blonde hair. The way he carries himself is very disciplined, each footstep completely perfect, just as the last was, completely parallel to his carefree looking around. This must be that Amestrian criminal Greeverce Ratery.
The second is a pale skinned man who has dark grey hair put into a pony tail that spikes out. He's very cautious about the new area that he has just entered. From the designs on his clothes, it's easy to tell his profession. He's an Alchemist, more specifically, an Ex-State Alchemist, one known as Karlin Raverce.
The third is in a dark robe, similar to Plat's. I can barely count the number of differences between him and Plat, one big difference being their sizes. Plat is a midget compared to the 8'5" giant Yondelo. He's been with us for a while, and from his appearance, and the looks of the other two new recruits, their mission went well.
All three of them have a good amount of blood on them.
"Ah, gentlemen, good to see you. I take it the mission went well,"
"It went better then well! It was all so much fun!" Greeverce screamed, throwing his hands into the air,
"Now that," he says, "is the kind of enthusiasm that is going to get all of this to work out perfectly! Why can't the rest of you be more like Greeverce!"
"All of us probably have a stronger hold on that silly little thing called sanity," I mumble,
"What was that?" He says
"Nothing! Nothing! So, what next?"
"Hmmm… well, for those who have just arrived, Fawful and Alice, these two," Their pictures show up on His screen for a brief moment, "Have gotten captured, and we need to rescue them. I'm going to need two volunteers, now who here wants to get some serious brownie points from your leader?" How is he so carefree about all of this?
Plat is hesitant to go on a mission back to Amestris. For some reason, this guy is terrified of that place, I'm going to need to find out why someday,
"Right here!" Greeverce shoots his hand into the air like a rocket, and Karlin slowly raises up his hand. He's a lot more professional about this.
I look at Yondelo, puzzled as to why he wouldn't volunteer. The guy has always been the first to volunteer for things ever since he arrived here three months ago.
"I would, but Fullmetal messed me up pretty good," he states simply and walks off,
"Well, now that that's settled, let me brief you. The three of you are to rescue Alice and Fawful, and then you're all going to find a way to retrieve what Fawful was supposed to get, but didn't. Just ask his about it later, that is all,"
"I can't wait… this'll be so much fun!"
"Wait, sir!" Karlin says, "My arithmetic may be a bit lacking, but only two people have volunteered for this, yet you said a total of three were going. Is there someone that you're not telling us about?"
"Oh… oh right, where are my manners, I recruited a few new Members, and one of them… well, you'll be going with… it." He points towards the two of them, and when I look, I see someone that wasn't there a minute ago.
Both men respond to the mysterious person in different ways. Karlin moves away as fast as possible, and Greeverce used a knife that he slips out of his sleeve to slash its throat,
Greeverce guffaws at his kill, watching the blood spurt out, waiting expectantly for the body to fall… but it doesn't. Instead, it starts laughing. At first it's slow and monotonous, but gradually, the pitch increases. It gets faster and faster, and more out of place with the gash on its throat that is healing. He joins in two, and all four in the room are freaked out, even me, who knows exactly what's going on. Eventually the laughter goes down, and it looks at Greeverce, pissed,
From what I can tell, it probably only did that to intimidate him, that must have hurt a lot.
"Now, now, no need for that, you're going to be working with these two. Just bear with it, and I'll even let you cut loose at last… Envy."
Envy is still angry, but despite that, it smiles widely and chuckles, excited over the blood that's going to be spilt.
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